The Ghost of Fairy Tail
by TheAmazingSwolfie
Summary: Ever since I was born, my life's been chaotic. Honestly, I just wanted to hide and take a nap. Maybe read a book. But instead I ran into a mysterious wizard with purple eyes, a crystal dragon, a cult of whack-jobs and a guild... Also made of whack-jobs. But the good thing about joining a guild as chaotic as Fairy Tail? Your own problems seem a lot calmer in comparison.
1. Chapter 1: Just Another Day in the Void

**Chapter 1: Just Another Day in the Void**

Another day, another torturous session of trying to make sense of this black void. At least, I think it's a new day. Time has become kinda irrelevant ever since I wound up here. Or maybe I was always here? No... no that's not right. It's hazy, but I definitely remember something else. Another place, covered in white, and freezing cold, filled with hundreds of trees. If it wasn't for that, maybe I wouldn't be questioning this void so much. Though, it's kind of human nature to wonder about these kinds of things, so-

 _Is it human nature? Or is it just that you are more curious than the average human, my dear?_

...and the void has finally done it. I am officially insane and hearing voices in my head. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

 _Perhaps that is because you underestimate the strength of your will, my dear. You don't give yourself nearly enough credit._

Hm... This voice will definitely become annoying later on. It was odd, because there didn't even seem to be a tone to it. It was almost as though the words were just thoughts being transferred to my head.

 _That is not outside the realm of possibility, however the truth is beyond what you could possibly imagine, my dear._

Jeez, I really wish it would cut it out with the "my dear" crap. It adds absolutely nothing to whatever it's saying.

 _I'd like to believe that it adds a certain amount of charm to my speech. However if you deem it unbecoming, than I shall stop for you._

Huh. And now I'm having a conversation with it. Definitely crazy. Hm... Maybe I started suffering from some sort of chemical imbalance since I've woken up here. If that's the case, then I'm doomed to madness. Alone. In this strange void.

 _Strange? I happen to find this "void" to be quite cozy. After all, it safely nurtured you until your memories of your old life finally dissipated. Your mind was quite insistent on keeping those._

"Wait... You're the one that took my memories?" I couldn't help but ask. It felt weird to finally talk again. It was pretty surprising how intact my voice was despite not using it for so long. There hasn't really been a point since I've gotten here. Wherever "here" is.

" _Here" is irrelevant. This place does not exist. At least, not in a way that your mind could fathom._

Again with this "this concept is far beyond you" crap? C'mon. I hate it when people assume I won't understand something. You haven't even tried explaining; how can I understand if I don't even have the chance?

 _Ah, and despite the memory loss, you have still retained your character. Oh, you shall make things very interesting indeed. I wonder just how much your presence can alter the chain of events?_

Making things interesting? Altering the chain of events? What the hell's going on here? Am I just some plaything to whatever this voice is? Wait... If they took my memories, then they're the one that stuck me in here!

 _Oh no, that's not quite right. I did indeed begin the process of filtering your memories, however you managed to find your way into this "void" in the first place. You even figured out just where you were, at one point, however for the sake of your sanity you dismissed it as just a theory._

Huh? I got here myself? I know where this is? How? Almost the entire time I've spent here, I've tried wandering about, hoping to find out something about this place. But there was nothing. Just infinite darkness in every direction. Then, an old theory came to mind, and it clicked. The emptiness, the darkness, the lack of time... It all seemed to fit. But... No, that couldn't be right. Because if it was, then...

"Limbo," I said. I didn't know exactly what limbo was religiously, but the space did fit the definition I _did_ know. 'A place of neglect or oblivion.' And to be in limbo meant one thing that I wasn't sure I was willing to face. "So... That means I'm... Dead... Right?" I asked in a quiet voice.

 _Yes... You perished in your world, searching a family member that got lost in a blizzard. They survived, by some miracle, however you succumbed to the cold in your attempt to rescue them._

The voice seemed almost sad as it relayed this information to me. Honestly, the thought had crossed my mind plenty of times since I've been trapped here. But it never really seemed possible. I mean, I'm still here. Thinking, breathing, walking; the only difference is the scenery.

 _There is a reason you are currently in this state. Limbo is also known as an intermediate place while you await being transferred from one life to the next._

From one life to the next? Like reincarnation? Or an afterlife?

 _Whichever you prefer to think of it as. The world you will be travelling to will be so radically different from your own, either will fit your current state of mind. Which is why I must continue to filter your memories until only your character is able to shine through. Your memories would alter that world's state to the point of breaking. A risk that I unfortunately am not able to take. Despite how entertaining it would be to see the results of such information on the loose._

I swear the voice giggled at the end of that last sentence. Okay... So I'm dead. And there is an afterlife. Of sorts. Okay. Trying not to freak out. I get to keep living, in a way. Just as someone else... But they have my character, so wouldn't that still kind of be me?

 _You worry far too much. Your new life will be just that._ Your _new life. It is yours to spend as you see fit. Try and make the most of it..._

The voice sounded almost... warm, at the end there. But it was fading away. Wait... no, it's leaving me alone again! I'm still stuck here! SHIT!

 _ **Some time later...**_

Another day, another torturous session of trying to make sense of this black void. The most annoying part? I couldn't even move in it anymore. I was just stuck lying there, alone with my thoughts. That could get pretty dangerous after a while. I'm not sure if I'm bordering on crazy, or if I've already crossed the line. I just want something to happen. Something. Anything. And then, just like that, my wish was granted in the form of a bright light forming on the horizon in front of me. I didn't even know this void had a horizon. The light slowly grew brighter and brighter until I eventually had to shut my eyes. Everything was becoming too much; it was too bright, the sounds were too loud, the smells so pungent, even the hands that were holding me were gripping too hard. I couldn't even process what was happening as my brain felt overloaded from the overstimulation. There were several booming voices surrounding me, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying. No... They were starting to become a bit clearer... I think I could make out some of it...

"It looks like a healthy baby boy!" a female voice said cheerily. Baby boy? Was I in a hospital somewhere? I tried opening my eyes a bit and got a little more adjusted to the light. It was a small, wooden room. Something more akin to a rustic infirmary rather than a hospital. Suddenly the world moved around me as I was suddenly being wrapped in a blue cloth, and carried in a new set of hands. Wait... Something wasn't right here... But I just couldn't tell what it was...

"Oh, you're beautiful... Your eyes are just like your father's!" a feminine voice said above me. I peered up to see a woman with emerald green eyes, and long brown hair framing her face. She looked extremely tired, and yet so happy at the same time. Like this was one of the best days of her life. But why did she look so much bigger than me?

And that's when it hit me like a truck. Baby. Blue blanket. This woman.

I'M A BABY!?

* * *

 **Author's Note: Wow, someone's actually reading this. Well, this is my first attempt at publishing a fanfiction, so I hope this ends up going well. I love fairy tail, but I honestly can't really pin down why. The music is honestly what hooked me in, and I stayed because I actually started to like the concept of the world and magic. It actually took a while to grow to like any of the characters.**

 **Anyway, as for the point of this chapter... I initially intended for this to be a self insert, but I really don't like people just automatically knowing the whole plot of the story for some reason. Plus, I'd like for the MC to grow to like/hate the characters instead of already having opinions on them. Hence the memory wipe. The fact that he's from our world won't really affect the overall plot (much) but it will be brought up again. As for the mysterious voice, just wait and see... *evil cackling* Also, not sure how often I'll be updating. It'll likely be more of a sporadic kind of thing. But hopefully posting it will keep me updating often! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: Magic's Buried in the Yard

**Chapter 2: Magic's Buried in the Yard**

 _Two years later..._

You know, it's weird how fast you can adapt to a situation when you can't remember anything. Somehow, I knew I wasn't a baby before, and I knew that there was something off about the world around me, but... What could I do? I was just a baby. Well, a toddler, now. My body would barely let me speak, let alone actually do anything productive. God I wish I could write, or read, or just do SOMETHING. Anything had to be better than just sitting alone in this damn nursery for most of the day.

There were a few things that I had to get used to. One was my name; Yuji. It sounded odd to me, and I had no idea what reason my mother had for giving that name to me. I mean... Yuji. It didn't sound cool, or average, or funny, or anything. It was just weird. What did it even mean, anyway? My mother used the name so affectionately, as though it was a term of endearment. But why? Why did it seem to matter so much to her?

Speaking of my mother, I learned rather quickly that she wouldn't be too involved in my life. She would usually pass me off to a nurse to take care of me as she went into town to work. And it didn't look like I had a father. Or a living one, at least. In that case, I couldn't really blame her, could I? She was just trying to do everything possible to support her family. She at least came back during the nights, so that was something. She always looked tired, but I quickly learned that babies had a magical power; all you had to do was giggle, and instantly everyone around you was happy.

Actually, speaking of magic... That word was being thrown around a lot whenever my mother spoke to my nurse. They would always speak something about me, and my father, and the word magic would always be involved at some point. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand much else. That was one thing I absolutely HATED about being an infant. I had to learn everything all over again. Every. Last. Thing. And let me tell you, walking is a bitch with these tiny little legs. But whenever I did it, it made Nurse Francine and my mother extremely happy, so I suppose it was worth it. Maybe... I could get used to life here.

...as soon as my mind could comprehend just what the hell was going on around me.

 _One Year Later..._

I nervously shuffled my feet as I stared at the door in front of me. I clenched my tiny fists around my blanket as I reconsidered what I was doing for the dozenth time. It was really late... I should be knocked out sleeping right now, but there was no way at that was happening. But... Should I really interrupt her sleep just because I couldn't go back to bed? I barely slept anyway. I really shouldn't bother her like this... She worked hard enough as it was. I didn't want to end up being a burden on her. But that dream... It was just so... so...

 _I was laying on the ground, too exhausted to keep running. My heart was pounding out of my chest as a deafening roar echoed around me, and the shadow of the beast I could only identify as Death flew directly above me, its wings flapping to create a storm around me. I tried to identify the threat, but my vision was too blurry from my tears. All I could make out was a giant black form with wings, and a pair of blood red eyes. Its piercing, crimson gaze left me petrified as I couldn't force myself to look away from the horror. A small part of me wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about "staring death in the face." The black demon let out another roar, and plunged down towards me, jaws open and ready to-_

"Yuji? What are you doing up?" a sweet voice questioned. I was shaken out of my thoughts as I tried to register its owner (funny, considering how the memory still left me shaking like a leaf). I looked up to see that my mother had opened the door on her own. Suddenly her eyes widened as she got a good look at me, and knelt down to my level. "Sweetie, you're crying! What's wrong?" It was only when she started to wipe away the tears that I realized she was right; I crying, while letting out a pathetic little whimper at the memory of that horrible dream.

"Mama... It was so scary!" I cried as I leaned in to hug her tightly. She hesitated for a bit at my sudden action. I was never too clingy around her; I never wanted to act like some kind of burden on her. But she quickly recovered as she whispered sweet nothings to me and lifted me up into her arms. She stood there and held me for a bit, rocking me slowly, before returning to her room and laying the two of us down in her bed, making sure to tuck the covers around us. She simply let me keep crying as she slowly rubbed my back, letting me get it all out before trying to speak again. I felt so pathetic... I was bawling my eyes out over a simple nightmare. Something I knew wasn't even real! But... why did it terrify me so much? What was that... _thing_? My tears eventually stopped falling, and my whimpers petered out into hiccups, until silence eventually enveloped the room, and I was able to simply enjoy lying there in peace with my mother.

"Don't worry sweetie... If there's ever anything scary, I'll always be there to protect you. Your Mama's a really powerful wizard!" she said proudly, with a huge grin in her face. My eyes widened with shock as I immediately sat up to look at her.

"You're a wizard!? Really!?" I asked, completely forgetting why I was crying in my excitement. My mother giggled at the amount of excitement I was showing. It wasn't often that I would get worked up like this; I was more of a quiet child that was content to observe rather than interact with the world around me. But I always loved the stories that Nurse Frannie and my mother would tell me about wizards and their quests. Hey, if I couldn't read, I had to get my stories somehow. Plus, it helped me learn to talk much faster. But... my mother never said anything about being a wizard herself!

"Yup! Whenever I leave for work, I always go out to work my magic on a job!" she said, waving her fingers when she said the word "magic." I couldn't help but look awestruck at her. She didn't get to spend time with me too often, since she was so tired whenever she got back from work. Now I knew why! Wizarding always seemed to be so hard in all of the stories I was told. But now there was one question burning in my mind.

"What kind of magic do you use Mama?" I asked. She got a very smug look on her face, and I suddenly knew the answer just before she gave it.

"Maybe when you're older, you'll see it for yourself!" she announced, clearly trying to keep that new air of mystery about her. I pouted at that. All I wanted was to know what magic she had, I didn't need to see it... Okay, that was a lie, but at least knowing it would be nice! Seeing my pout, she tickled my chin to get my attention. "Alright Mr. Grumpy Pants... I'll give you a hint. The secret to my magic is in our garden outside." My eyebrows rose at that. We had magic near our own house and I didn't even know!? I prepared to get out of bed to see for myself, when suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and drag me back into bed. "Oh no you don't! You're staying here and helping me get back to sleep!"

"But I'm not tired anymore, Mama! I wanna see the magic!" I complained. Of course, I just had to yawn as soon as I finished that sentence. My mother got that smug look on her face, knowing she was going to win this argument. She _really_ loved to make that face.

"Is that so, little man? Well, I _am_ tired. You don't wanna let your Mama go to work all tired tomorrow, do you?" she said. Wow. Using my yawn, AND a guilt trip. This woman seriously needed to sleep... Which is why I tried to avoid coming here in the first place... Then the memory of my nightmare was fresh in my mind, and I couldn't help the frown that grew on me. My mother noticed just as I tried to hide it, pulling me back into her lap. "Don't worry, Yuji... I'm right here. Whatever you dreamed up, just know that I'll always be right here to protect you from it." I looked up to see a warm gaze in her amber eyes, melting away whatever depressed feelings I was holding onto. It took three years, but I think that I could finally say that I loved my mother.

 _One Year Later..._

"Yuji! Quit digging around in the mud, you're going to ruin the garden! Not to mention your clothes!" Nurse Frannie yelled in the background. I quickly stopped digging through the bushes to shoot an apologetic smile at her, which got her to just sigh and shake her head in exasperation. It helped being what I considered to be a pretty fucking adorable kid. I had short brown hair and fair skin, like my mother, and oddly dark purple eyes. My mother said I got them from my father, but I've never seen a picture of him. I was wearing a set of overalls over a white shirt so that I could get dirty during my mission for the day. What was the mission? To figure out my mom's "secret magic" that she hid in the garden. I've spent so much time trying to figure out just what it was the she hid in there that I spent most of my days playing there. A part of me thought that it might've just been her way to get me outside, but she wasn't that good of a liar.

I started walking away from my mother's rose bushes to try and find some other spot that her magic could be hidden in... Her garden was quite expansive; she could afford to do it, with our house being so far away from the village she worked at. No, "expansive" didn't even come close to covering it. The garden took up ACRES of land. It was filled with all kinds of flowers, trees, fruits, vegetables, bushes, and more. If you could imagine it, you could probably find it in this maze of a garden. The only thing you couldn't seem to find was whatever this damn secret of hers was...

"Yuji! Don't wander too far into the garden! I don't want to have to search for you like last time!" Nurse Frannie shouted in the background. I rubbed the back of my neck and blushed at the memory. I had gotten lost and just sat down next to a rare Rainbow Sakura tree my mother had planted, hoping that she could somehow find me in that maze she had made. Unfortunately, Nurse Frannie got to me first, and gave me a good scolding on how I shouldn't be so thoughtless...

"I'll be fine, Nurse Frannie! I'm just going over to the Rainbow Sakura!" I shouted back, cupping my hands around my mouth. I waved as I dashed into my favorite part of the garden. The trees and flowers in this area all had some amount of luminescence, and I could occasionally see the glow from my window at night... My mother must have spent so long creating this place... I wonder why? Why was this garden so important to her?

Suddenly, the world grew dark around me. The garden was draped in shadow, turning the lovely paradise it was into something far more foreboding. I looked up to the sky to see if it was simply a cloud blocking the sun, but... It turned out the sky had suddenly turned overcast. How? The sky was perfectly clear a few minutes ago. I looked at the garden around me in confusion. All of the flowers had lost their healthy glow, becoming depressingly dull. The lunar rose bushes' thorns became far more pronounced without the beauty of the flowers to distract from them. I looked above me to see that even the Rainbow Sakura had lost its glow, the petals turning to a monochromatic gray and black. This was wrong. This was very wrong. What was happening? I shook my head, hoping to wake up from whatever nightmare I was having. I just fell asleep by the tree, right? This wasn't happening. I had nightmares all the time, now. This wasn't any different. This wasn't anymore real than the last one. This wasn't happening. The wind suddenly picked up around me, scattering the monochrome sakura petals all around me. I started shivering for some reason. I couldn't take it anymore. I broke out into a run, trying to find my way back to the house.

"Nurse Frannie! Nurse Frannie! Something bad's happening!" I shouted, running as fast as my tiny legs could take me. I nicked my arm on one of the bushes, but the pain didn't register over the fear. Something was ruining my mother's paradise. I looked ahead to see the plants starting to peter out, a sign I was getting closer to home. I ran with a sudden burst of energy, hoping that Nurse Frannie could somehow fix what was happening.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw next.

The entire area had the same monochromatic color scheme I had just run away from. The house. The grass. Even the sky. There was no sunshine, no wind, no sound, just... nothingness. That is, until I noticed the two people facing off. My mother was standing in front of the rose bushes that marked the entrance to her garden, unknowingly standing with her back facing me, her arms held out in a cross position, her long, brown hair somehow floating around her. There was a certain aura around her... One of determination and resolve... but she seemed desperate, as well. Despite the absence of anything around her, her aura still seemed to permeate the air around her. Was this... her magic? Why was she acting so scary right now? I looked across the clearing to see what she was directing that aura towards. It was an odd looking man. At least... I think it was a man. It was hard to tell because of the hair. His long, black hair fell nearly down to the ground below him. And the robes he was wearing reminded me of a dress Nurse Frannie would sometimes wear... Was this really a man? No... it had to be. His face didn't look feminine at all, with those chiseled features. And his eyes... were purple.

I heard a disgusting, gurgling sound from where he was standing, and I glanced downward and nearly screamed. It was Nurse Frannie... soaked in some odd, black substance. She was covered in cuts and bruises... And several bones were sticking out at completely wrong angles. Another gurgling noise came from her mouth, and she coughed up more of that weird, black goo. Her eyes were glazed over, not recognizing anything around her, forcing her to focus only on the pain she was feeling. At the noise, the man looked down at the woman calmly, almost as though he had forgotten she was there. He regarded her for a few seconds... Then crushed her neck with his boot. I gasped in horror at the horrible snapping sound that echoed all around us, the sound seeming amplified in the empty arena that had been created in this clearing. Nurse Frannie seemed to be choking for a few seconds, until the man grinded his heel against her neck, causing another loud snap to echo through the clearing, ceasing her movements. His expression didn't change once throughout any of that. Suddenly, the aura around my mother amplified, an extreme feeling of anger now registering in the mixture of emotions.

"Why are you doing this, Fen? We had a deal," my mother addressed the man, whose name was Fen, apparently, with a steely tone. The man seemed to regard her in the same manner.

"New orders. I need the child. The master has a few ideas for him," Fen said. The child... Me? I started shivering uncontrollably. I didn't want to go with this man. I didn't want Frannie to be dead. I didn't want my mother to be scary. I just wanted everything to be normal again. I tried to hold in my whimpers, and fortunately the pair didn't seem to notice me. Fen looked at the large garden with slight interest; more than he had shown so far, at any rate. "He's in there, isn't he? You built an entire palace based around your magic simply to defend the boy should I arrive, am I right?"

"It wasn't meant for you, it was meant for the others. I was hoping that something like this would never have to happen," my mother said, her tone never wavering. Fen sighed and closed his eyes, seeming to be lost in thought.

"If it were for any other reason, I'd be defending the child myself. You know this, Leia," he said. Leia... Four years, and that was the first time I had ever heard my mother's name... Who was this man? Suddenly, his eyes opened, with the most emotion I had seen in them yet; a fierce gaze of determination. "However, if this can save millions- No, trillions of lives, then this must be a sacrifice that we're all willing to make." His steady, even voice became filled with more and more rage as he continued, his eyes burning with passion. What the hell did I stumble into!? My mother shifted herself to be more directly in the way of her garden.

"Listen to yourself! Attempting to justify filicide! He deserves the chance to live, just like anyone else! I won't let you take that away from him!" she yelled. Her aura was starting to become visible, the glow of green energy a welcome sight against the monochrome background. Fen sighed as he regarded my mother.

"I knew there was no way to convince you. You were always too stubborn for your own good," he frowned, unable to meet her eyes for a moment, before shaking his head and raising his sad eyes to meet her defiant ones. "For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry." Suddenly, there was a huge burst of energy that physically blasted my mother backwards a bit as he began to slowly walk forwards. Wait... Was my mother seriously going to take this guy on!? NO!

"MAMA!" I shouted, running out of my hiding spot in the rose bushes. Everyone seemed shocked as I ran up and clung to her leg, refusing to let go. "DON'T FIGHT HIM! HE'S TOO SCARY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was suddenly pulled away from her leg by one of the straps on my overalls, and was lifted up towards my mother's face.

"Yuji, remember how I said I would always be here? I meant it. I'm going to protect you from him, don't worry. Just run as far as you can through the garden, you'll be safe!" she exclaimed, somehow keeping that warm tone she always regarded me with. I shook my head as the tears began to flow.

"No! Run with me, Mama! He's too scary!" I shouted. My mother sighed before giving that signature smug grin of hers.

"I told you, I'm a pretty powerful wizard. I'll be back before you know it! Now RUN!" she shouted, tossing me behind the rose bushes. I rolled backwards a few times before landing on my belly. I immediately tried to get up to try and get her to come with me, but as I looked ahead of me, the bushes started closing together, sealing off the pathway back to her.

"MAMA!" I screamed, rushing towards her. She once again gave me that signature grin of hers before summoning a green magic circle in front of her, surrounding a central design of a heart made of bramble. Suddenly, a large wall of those same rose bushes burst out of the ground, the thorns growing larger and larger as the plant grew, keeping me away from my mother. I desperately tried to reach my hand through the closing gap, only to get jabbed by the dozens of humongous thorns growing from it. And all too quickly, I was separated from the only woman I had left in this world.

I simply stood there in silence, staring at the newly formed thorns, trying to somehow will them away to allow me to be with my mother again. She had used magic to do it. So maybe I could too. Magic couldn't be too hard to master, could it? I focused extremely hard, trying to do something, ANYTHING that could reunite me with her. I stood there for... I didn't even know how long. But nothing happened. They didn't even budge. I sat down and felt myself about to cry, when the rosebushes started to tremble. As though they were trying to move. I immediately ran over, thinking that maybe I had somehow done it. Suddenly a hole was poked through the bush, and my eyes met with a single, purple eye staring through the newly created hole. I started backing away in terror as the bushes began to tremble more and more, attempting to resist Fen's attempts to break through, but clearly failing. As I backed away, I tripped over the roots of one of the many trees in the garden, falling flat on my butt. As I did so, the rosebushes seemed to shatter, with Fen standing there with a dark look in his eyes. My mother was nowhere in sight. I began crawling backwards in fright. No. There was no way. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose! She couldn't-

All thoughts ceased in my mind as Fen took a slow step towards me. Then another. And another. I shakily got up to run, but as I did so he started to speed up his walk. Just as he reached out his hand to grab me, the very root I tripped on swung upward, knocking his hand away and allowing me to begin my escape.

I sprinted through the garden, using my many days spent there to my advantage, taking every odd route or hidden shortcut I had found to get me further and further away from that monster of a man. Occasionally I would hear him crashing through the plants and glance behind me, only to see a root sprout upwards to trip him up, or a branch swing to attack him. Once, I was nearly cornered by my favorite Rainbow Sakura, when the petals suddenly all launched out of the tree to repeatedly slash at my pursuer. My mom's magic... It wasn't hidden in the garden, it WAS the garden! It was keeping this man from catching me! Knowing this, I took every opportunity to deviate from the paths my mother made to dash through the plants for any extra help. The fact that I was small enough to fit between most of them helped immensely. I eventually didn't hear anymore crashing behind me, but that didn't keep me from running. If I rested, that would give him a chance to catch up. If he caught me... Would I end up like Nurse Frannie? Or mother? I shook my head as I continued to focus on my run. I couldn't let anything distract me. I needed to survive.

After what felt like hours later, I was wheezing, unable to take another step until I was able to somehow take a breath. I fell down to my knees, then eventually onto my belly as exhaustion crept over me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't run anymore. I couldn't feel my legs. My lungs were on fire. My sweat could even be seen on my overalls. I was far past where my limits should've been. I shut my eyes as I tried to simply lie there and recover.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

What was that?

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._

No... There was no way. I had lost him hours ago! There was no way that he should've caught up with me!

 _Thud! Thud! Thud!_

I tried to force myself to get up, but my legs had lost any ability to move. I settled for crawling, hoping to at least put some distance between me and the man. Maybe I could hide amongst the plants, somehow?

 _THUD! THUD! THUD!_

No... He was too close... There was no way I could escape. I couldn't even muster up enough energy to cry as I continued to crawl, fruitlessly trying to find a hiding spot. It was only then that I noticed that at some point I had left the garden behind. I was now heading towards the snowcapped mountains that proudly stood several miles away from home. I was currently on a rocky path without a single plant in sight...

 _ **THUD! THUD! THUD!**_

My eyes started to droop as the exhaustion on my body started to catch up with my mind. I hadn't slept much the night before... I was gonna sleep by my favorite tree... With the smell of the flowers around me... I could practically picture myself there... The last thing that registered in my mind before I drifted off was a low, grumbling sound that resounded through the very ground beneath me.

* * *

 **Author's Note: And here's chapter 2! Honestly, I just posted this immediately just because I wasn't sure if people would be hooked to read it after the first one. Hopefully you're interested now! Right now, I've written two more chapters, and half of another, so I have a slight buffer in case I feel like I'm taking too long to write. Anyway, yeah. That mystery dude. Any guesses on just who he was? Besides the obvious one :P There's more to him than just _that_. I'm not gonna make it too easy on you!  
Thank you very much for reading and I hope you all have an awesome day! Or night. Or whatever.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Doting, Dorky Dragon-Dad

**Chapter 3: The Doting, Dorky Dragon-Dad**

You know the worst part of falling unconscious? When you wake up, it feels as though the entire world has changed. Well, at least that's what it was like for me. When I came to, I saw that I definitely wasn't on that mountain trail that I passed out on. I was in a cave that was made up of this beige colored rock, with several stalagmites rising out of the ground. I was a little creeped out when I realized I was in a perfect circle of them, trapped inside with no way out unless I felt like climbing. I was a little confused as to how I could see though. Weren't caves supposed to be dark? I glanced upward and my jaw hit the floor as I found my answer. The ceiling of the cave was made of the most beautiful gems I've ever seen. Dozens of colors lit up the cave like light filtering through a stained glass window, with the gems all sparkling. The sight was so beautiful and surreal that it was addicting to stare at it; almost like a fireplace. I ended up staring a little too long, and my eyes started to hurt from the bright light. I rubbed my eyes a bit, and was startled to see my mummified hand.

It stung. A lot. But what happened to it? I tried to think back to whatever happened before I woke up here. Right. I tried to reach through the thorns for my mother. I guess I was more hurt than I thought. I eventually shook away the thoughts as I looked around the cave a little more. Or what I could make out of it, anyway. The stalagmite circle was blocking my view of anything outside of them. I took some deep breaths as I prepared to climb them.

...I immediately regretted that decision when I slid down and landed right on my butt. I cried out in pain as I rubbed my bandaged hand. That, didn't exactly go as planned. Maybe rock climbing while injured wasn't my smartest idea. As I tried to think of another way out of there, a familiar noise echoed around me.

 _THUD! THUD! THUD!_

I flinched as I remembered why I had passed out in the first place; the exhaustion of running from that man. And it looked like he got me, anyway. Even after everything my mother did to protect me... If I had just listened to her and ran in the first place, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess...

 _ **THUD! THUD! THUD!**_

As the noise grew closer and closer, causing the ground to shake, I lowered my head, resigned to my fate. Sorry Mama... Sorry Frannie... I didn't want any of this to happen to you guys... I could feel a tear slip down from my eye as the thudding stopped. No. I had to be strong. I couldn't keep acting like a crybaby, especially not towards the man that killed them! I quickly rubbed my eyes and looked up at my captor, puffing out my chest and giving the meanest look I could muster. And, of course, I was immediately met with a booming laugh. I just didn't expect where the laugh would be coming from.

The deep, baritone laugh was coming from a big... HUGE... **GIANT** , scaly monster. It was covered in large, dark purple scales that seemed to sparkle as they reflected the incoming light. It had a large pair of horns on its head that curled in a corkscrew behind it until the points were facing towards its front, and the horns appeared to be made out of large, purple crystals. Eventually, I heard a loud thud from behind it, and I peered around it to see a large, spiked tail coming out from behind it, sporting several crystalline spikes coming out of the end to form a mace-like weapon at the end of it. Though, even that tail didn't look nearly as deadly as the crystalline claws that sprouted out from each of the beast's hands and feet, or the sharp fangs that were revealed as it laughed its head off.

...holy shit it's still laughing. I didn't look _that_ dumb! ...did I?

Eventually the monster calmed down enough to only chuckle occasionally as it regarded me. "Boy, I had no idea what to expect from you when you woke up, but it definitely wasn't a show like that! Bwahahaha! That look alone made dragging you in here worth the effort!" the beast bellowed, its loud voice bouncing around the walls of the cave that I assumed was its home. It honestly hurt my ears a little bit. But I couldn't be afraid of this thing. Mostly because I didn't want to be laughed at anymore.

"It's not a show! I'm not scared of you!" I shouted back. The monster seemed to calm down a bit as it returned to examining me, circling around the makeshift cage that I'm guessing he placed me in. Hell, it probably made it itself.

"I've never encountered any youth of your kind before. Tell me child, what's your name?" the monster asked calmly, still circling around me. I kept my eye on it as it kept moving, not wanting it to leave my sight.

"M-my name's Yuji," I answered, mentally cursing at myself for the stutter. The monster seemed to get a teasing look as its head drew closer to me.

"Oh? I thought you weren't afraid of me, _Yuji_ ," it drawled, making my very name sound like an insult, though it did sound a little playful. "Though I will admit, you're handling this far better than the average adult of your kind. I wonder why that is?" it seemed to ask itself. It seemed genuinely confused that I wasn't having a mental breakdown right then. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that's just because I already had one not too long ago. I was way too tired to go through another one. But I couldn't just let it get away with teasing me.

"Maybe it's because you're not scary," I replied. Its head instantly snapped towards me, and I knew I said something significant... How or why, I wasn't sure, but I knew that what I said struck a cord with it. "What's your name?" I asked it.

"Child, do you not realize what kind of situation you are in right now?" it asked me, sounding truly confused. I had to think to myself on that one. It did seem like I was caught by this thing, but I wasn't with the man. This giant monster was honestly not nearly as scary. It was even a little funny.

"I do. But you're not scary, so I'm not worried," I said, nodding in agreement with myself. The monster seemed at a loss for words, until it suddenly started its deep, bellowing laugh again, echoing all throughout the cave until it sounded like he was laughing with a group of friends. If he could cry while laughing, I was sure he would've done so. This went on even longer than his first laugh. It was annoying at first, but as it went on, it became a little funny. Something told me this guy wasn't making fun of me. He just really loved to laugh.

"Child, I have met many interesting humans over the years, but you are by far the most interesting!" he exclaimed. He walked closer to the stalagmite prison until he was standing just in front of it, then used his claws to smash a group of them straight into the ground. I jumped at the sudden action, landing right on my butt again. The giant creature lowered its head into the gap it had made so it could be more level with me. Though its head was still bigger than my whole body. "My name is Crystelien Ametrine. I am known by many as the Crystal Dragon," he said. A dragon. A giant, talking dragon. How the- You know what? I wasn't even going to question it. Besides, he'd probably just start laughing again if I made any kind of remark at that...

"Cry... Crystal... Crystal-lion?" I said, unsure of my pronunciation. "Crystal-ee-on. Crystell-ion. Crys..." This went on and on until I was finally able to pronounce his name. Well, the first name, at least. The dragon was surprisingly patient as I went on and on trying to get my awkward little mouth to say that odd name. When he finally nodded at my last attempt, I felt kind of proud of myself for finally managing it. "Um... Mr. Crystelien?"

"Please, just call me Crystelien. You are entirely too formal," he responded. I sighed, not knowing how I was supposed to treat this guy. He was bigger, stronger, most likely smarter, and most definitely my elder... It only seemed natural to be formal.

"Crystelien. Can you tell me why I'm here? The last thing I remember was falling down on a mountain road and falling asleep," I explained. The dragon closed his eyes in thought before responding to me.

"I was hoping you would explain that yourself, actually. I was on a stroll, having recently returned from a hunt, when I noticed you lying in the dirt, covered in cuts and barely breathing. I could barely see your hand under all of the blood it was leaking out. If I hadn't watched where I was going to step, I would have a lot of explaining to do to your parents," he said jokingly, probably trying to get a rise out of me. He had the opposite effect, causing me to drop my gaze, unsure of exactly how to answer. Technically, I didn't _see_ my mother die, but she definitely wasn't chasing after Fen when he broke through her barrier. An image popped into my head of her body tossed aside and forgotten... Just like Nurse Frannie... I chanced a glance at Crystelien, noticing that he was still patiently awaiting my answer. I took a deep breath before relaying my tale to the dragon.

He turned out to be a very good listener. He would only occasionally stop to ask a question, or make the occasional comment, but didn't interrupt with any assumptions. When I was finally done, he stood there thinking for a little while, humming to himself as he did so. He eventually met my gaze once again. "Child... Unfortunately, I believe that your mother... Is dead," he said slowly. I kept my eyes on the ground as I clenched my fists, trying not to cry. I've already shed enough tears as it was. "If a man such as that was truly after your family, it seems unlikely that he would leave behind any survivors. It's a miracle that you managed to last as long as you did. However, you are far too weak as you are now to continue running. You need shelter, and a willing guardian. You are far too young to be living on your own..." As he continued to ramble, Crystelien's eyes seemed to suddenly light up as he looked down at me. "If you would like, I'd be more than willing to fulfill that role." My head jolted upwards at that. Did... Did that mean?

"You... want me to live here with you?" I asked to clarify. The dragon nodded, offering a fanged smile as he did so. I could feel the waterworks again... Dammit. I immediately tried to hide it by running up to hug him (or at least his snout), thanking him over and over again. Living with a dragon, huh? This was going to be interesting.

* * *

"Crystelien?" I groaned out, my throat feeling like sandpaper.

"Yes? What is it?" the dragon immediately responded, having arrived at my side surprisingly fast considering his size. "Do you need more water? Or perhaps a blanket? You appear to still be shivering... I'll bring two then, just to be safe-"

"Crystelien..." I groaned out again, trying to get his attention.

"What else do humans require in this kind of situation... Ah! Syrup! I was told that it would heal a throat in no time flat! And steam! Steam could help you get right as rain!" Crystelien continued to ramble, his list of "cures" becoming longer and longer, and he didn't seem to be taking a breath as he continued to ramble his checklist to himself.

"Crystelien!" I shouted. I immediately regretted that decision, falling into another coughing fit that echoed throughout our cave, only worrying the poor dragon even more. The dragon's head was instantly by my side, humming and nuzzling, trying to calm me down somehow as I nearly hacked up a lung. Slowly but surely my fit eventually died down until I was finally resting peacefully, my back lying against Crystelien's belly.

"What do you need, child? Why did you need to get my attention so badly?" Crystelien questioned. Huh. Um... Why was I trying to talk to him again?

"Um... I forget?" I said, my uncertainty made pretty clear. This only sent Crystelien into another fit, something about how forgetfulness wasn't a good sign, or something along those lines. I swear, that dragon... "Oh, wait, I remember now," I said, mostly trying to stop the ranting. It was hard trying not to raise my voice at him, though that last coughing fit was a pretty good deterrent. Though it seemed to work, since he cut his rambling short to look at me. "Um... Crystelien? Can you just relax with me today, instead of going out? I'm kinda scared being alone in this cave..." I admitted. That was one thing that I hadn't gotten used to in my new life yet. Being homeschooled by my giant dragon guardian? Sure, why not? Being left alone in this dark cave full of who knows what? Not nearly as entertaining. He didn't tend to leave me alone often (as he _did_ promise to protect me, and all...) but he did have to leave the cave sometimes, whether it was catching dinner, or meeting with a friend of his. I wonder if his friends see this big, lovable, dorky side of his too? Or if it was something that just I got to see? The dragon in questioned rumbled as he considered my request.

"...while Grandeeney will most likely be disappointed, I think the old bat owes me enough to allow me to rest. Besides, I wasn't planning on leaving you in this state anyway," he announced happily as he curled up around me, shifting so he could tuck me in under his wing, and use his tail to form a sort of wall around me as I curled up against his belly. One thing I quickly learned that the two of us had in common was our favorite hobby; napping. I was perfectly fine letting the world move on its own outside this cave if it gave me the chance to take a nap alongside my... My... What _was_ Crystelien to me now? He offered his home to protect me, and even offered to teach me basic math, culture and language last month. And... I knew he cared about me. I mean, just look at how he was acting over a simple fever! He was like an adorable, doting father figure. Father... I never really had a dad... So maybe...

"G'night Dad..." I mumbled sleepily, testing the waters a bit. It sounded a little weird coming out of my mouth... But I kinda liked it. Crystelien's breathing seemed to stutter for a bit when he realized what I just said. But then he curled up a little tighter, and rumbled, "Goodnight, son..."

* * *

"Surprise!" the dragon practically roared. I would've complained about the volume if this wasn't the hundredth time it happened. The dragon lifted his wing to show what he was hiding beneath it; a cloak. It was a very dark purple color. I would've called it black, but you could see the purple when it caught the light. It had a rather simple clasp in the front, made of a gold circle with what looked like an etched out design of a crystal in the center, perfectly matching the creator's style. It was simple but... I felt like it was the most precious thing I'd ever seen.

"Dad... Did... Did you make this yourself?" I asked as I picked it up. The material was pretty sturdy, but not uncomfortable. It would do its job to keep me warm, at least.

"Yes. It's lined with a few of my scales, for protection from physical and magical blows. It should also keep it well insulated from the cold and the heat," he explained with a rather obvious amount of pride in his work. As he continued talking, I draped the cloak over my shoulders, fastened the clasp and pulled the hood up.

...and he started rambling. He probably got nervous from how I wasn't responding, the big dork. "It, uh, was a little difficult to make. I wasn't sure how I could possibly make it fit you, but then Grandeeney pointed out that our scales alter their sizes to match the wearer, and so-" I put a stop to his rambling by hugging his leg (mindful of the spike, of course).

"I love it... Thank you so much," I said quietly. It was the most perfect thing I had ever seen. And it was mine? "I just don't know what I did to deserve this..." The dragon snorted at that.

"You live here with me. As my son. This doesn't even come near to repaying you for the amount of happiness you've brought this old lizard..." he said, looking down at me fondly.

* * *

"Son... It is almost disturbing how fast you have mastered this..." Crystelien said, a slightly exasperated look on his face. I looked up from where I was writing characters on the stone wall with a crystal shard he broke off for me.

"Hm? But it's really simple. All you have to do is memorize the patterns," I said, explaining my thought process. Really, how hard was writing supposed to be? It was just drawing shapes into words, and words into sentences. You just had to write them in the way that sounds the best. I've tried explaining that to the dragon before, but he's simply decided that I just had a different mind than most humans. A fact that he teased me over many, many times. I simply rolled my eyes as I finished my sentence, and looked proudly at what's been determined to be my school wall. There were tons of simple equations, drawings, and sentences carved all over it, progressing from left to right as I learned more and more. It was actually really nice to see how far I had come ever since Crystelien started teaching me. "Thanks again for agreeing to teach me!" I cheered, giving the biggest grin I could manage. Those grins always caused that happy rumble Crystelien let loose, much like a cat purring. It was always so entertaining and comforting at the same time.

* * *

The cave floor was rather interesting. I could stare at it all day. Definitely nothing to see ahead of me. Not the disapproving glare of a dragon. Nope. The floor just held so many mysteries that I had yet to solve.

"Yuji," Crystelien began. Oh boy, here we go. "How many times have I told you that you are not to leave the cave without my express permission?" he questioned. I grimaced as I could easily recall at least dozens of times that he had explicitly told me to never leave without at least asking first.

"Too many to count..." I said, my voice small. I never liked confrontation. It always just ends up worse for everyone involved. Maybe if I just went with the flow, he would let me off the hook? Somehow?

"And yet you easily disobeyed me. I trust you enough to follow the few rules I've set for you, yet I find that you went behind my back, and for what? A few cheap thrills?" he lectured. That... wasn't entirely true. I just wanted to go to the surface to feel the wind on the mountainside again. The wind was always nice and strong up there. How was I supposed to know that it would end up creating a storm that would almost knock me off the mountain?

"Sorry, Dad. My mistake. I wasn't thinking properly..." I said sadly, still unable to meet his gaze. I heard a loud sigh before he crashed onto the ground beside me, gathering me up in his hand.

"I put those rules in place to protect you, Yuji. We both know you're a smart kid. You wouldn't normally do something so reckless, but... When I saw you fall, I thought I might've lost you," he admitted. I looked up in shock to see that Crystelien wasn't mad, or even disappointed. He was scared. "You have no idea how much I worry about you on a daily basis, Yuji." I took that as my cue to cuddle up against him, hugging his arm. Sure, I wasn't looking forward to the punishment, but I at least owed him this much.

* * *

I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself up as I rode on Crystelien's back while he walked out of our cave. Apparently he had another one of his famous "surprises" for me. Though I really wished that he didn't need to wake me up before sunrise for it... I couldn't help but release the yawn that built up in me, catching Crystelien's attention.

"Don't worry, I believe that this will _definitely_ be worth the early rising," he assured me. It was odd riding on the back of a dragon. You'd figure that it would be a lot harder to hold on, but the scales provided a surprising amount of traction. Not to mention that the spines on their backs made for perfect handles, if you needed them. So long as you avoided the tips...

We eventually broke out into the surface, coming to a stop at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the mountains around us. I swear that he chose the highest mountain in the range intentionally, but Crystelien insists that it was purely by chance. _Sure..._ I looked up at the sky, the stars still clearly on display without the sun's interference. They looked pretty, but I still preferred the crystal-coated ceiling in the cave. When Crystelien took another step forward, my thoughts were put to a screeching halt.

"Uh, Dad? You might wanna back up... I'm not sure if the cliff can take your weight..." I warned.

"Are you trying to insinuate something about my weight? I was told that was taboo in human culture..." the dragon said, completely ignoring my concern as he took another step forward.

"Dad, seriously, we're gonna fall!" I shouted. Then he looked back at me with that devious grin he only ever got when he's tricked me into doing something.

Shit.

Crystelien suddenly leapt from the cliff, going into an immediate freefall as the ground seemed to rush upwards.

"WAAAAAAAH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, clinging for dear life to the spine in front of me. Crystelien only chuckled as he finally spread out his wings, and changed his angle so that we were gliding forward.

"So I _might_ have had a reason for choosing the tallest mountain..." he said sheepishly. I KNEW IT! Though I couldn't really celebrate. What with trying not to die and all. "You're missing out on the experience, Yuji!" After a few more minutes of coaxing, I finally dared to open my eyes. There was no land in sight, only the clouds illuminated by the little amount of light that was starting to peek up over the horizon. I reached my hand up to touch one, a little disappointed when I remembered that it was more like fog than cotton candy in texture. After a few more minutes of this I finally relaxed as we lazily flew through the sky, watching the sun rise from the best vantage point possible. We could see the sunlight stretching across the many valleys in the mountain range, slowly bringing life to the world around us. "Have you finally calmed down?" Crystelien asked. Though I couldn't really tell if he was teasing me or if he was being genuine.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Laugh it up all you want later. It was my first time flying, alright?" I defended. Crystelien chuckled deeply. I briefly wondered just what was so funny... Until he flashed that same, devious grin at me again.

"'Was?' Who said we were finished yet?" he teased. Then suddenly he folded back his wings and we set into another free fall.

* * *

"So how come you wanted to go all the way out here?" I asked. Crystelien had taken me to the top of the mountain that our home was buried within, without any explanation.

"I think that your human schooling has been sufficiently completed, son. Now, we're going to get into the _really_ fun stuff," he said deviously, showing a rather toothy smile. I had to admit I was getting a little nervous. This was a little out of character for the dragon to be so childish. Okay, that wasn't true in the slightest, but it was odd for him to be so excitable. That usually only happened if I was in trouble (he still wouldn't let that incident with the giant mole-bears go...) or if it was something he was particularly proud of. Some part of me thought that this might be both, somehow.

"What do you mean by really fun stuff?" I asked. My answer came in the form of another toothy grin.

"Stuff that will be useful when you run into those mole-bears again," he replied. I could feel a vein tick in my forehead at that. While he's quick to help, he's definitely not quick to forget. The rumbling laugh that followed let me know that he at least partially meant that as a joke, so I calmed myself down to pay attention. "From today forward, you are going to get a _dragon's_ education."

"A dragon's education?" I echoed. What the heck was that supposed to mean? If possible, the dragon's smile grew even larger. Man, he was positively giddy about whatever he was going to show me.

"Things that dragons learn as they mature," he answered. "Things like..." Crystelien began to take a deep breath, his chest expanding enormously as he did so, and I could feel a familiar energy building up around him. Then suddenly he snapped forward as he unleashed a deafening roar. "THIS!" His breath formed a cyclone of blue crystal shards being launched forward at an incredible speed. It was the most breathtaking sight I've ever seen... So beautiful, yet so deadly. And it looked even deadlier when I looked at what he was just aiming at.

"Um... Dad? Do you think anybody's gonna miss that side of the mountain?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit as I saw what used to be a mountainside a few miles away. Now? It looked like the inside of our cave; decorated with hundreds of crystal shards, and most of it had crumbled to the ground in the resulting avalanche. Crystelien regarded his work with what looked like... disappointment?

"Hm... A little rusty. The top should've come clean off at this distance," the dragon grumbled irritably. Wait... WAS THAT WHY THERE WERE SO MANY PLATEAUS AROUND HERE!?

"So... you're gonna teach me how to do that, somehow?" I asked. I mean, it was cool. Awesome. Incredible. Other synonyms. I still needed to pick up my jaw from where I left it on the floor. But there was just one problem... "I don't think humans can really... _do_ that." That earned yet another grin from the dragon. Something told me we were about to get to what he was so excited about.

"Normally, you'd be right," he started. "However, there is a way. I'm going to teach you magic. Magic that allows you to take on the same qualities as a dragon, and lets you have enough strength to face them head on. I'm going to teach you Dragon Slayer magic."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Alright, I'm gonna be honest here; I really love how Crystelien turned out. He was initially going to be the typical, serious and strict type of teacher, but he felt a lot more entertaining to me this way. I really wanted to show off the father/son relationship with these two, so I made an entire chapter just to show it off before we get into the training itself.  
**

 **Anyway, go ahead and tell me what you think of the Crystal Dragon Dad! Good, bad, awesome, annoying, whatever you think! I still need to work on writing, after all, so any criticism is welcome! Thanks for reading people!**


	4. Chapter 4: Elementary School for Dragons

**Chapter 4: Elementary School for Dragons**

Fangs were so cool. But the increased senses? Eh... Don't get me wrong, they had their benefits. Especially when Dad had me train them by hunting. But they just seemed too easy to take advantage of. Overstimulation was a constant threat, until I learned how to purposely cut off my magic and dull them. But fangs? Oh _man_ were they awesome! They looked cool, gave me that toothy grin just like my Dad, and were strong as hell. I mean, they kinda had to be in order to eat anymore.

A few weeks into my new magic training, my progress was rather slow. Slower than expected, at any rate. While a patient man, er, dragon himself, Dad was beginning to grow concerned at how frustrated I was. Magic just didn't come naturally to me. That is, until he introduced me to my new diet. Apparently dragons were able to consume whatever element they practiced to increase their magic power. For me, that would be crystals. And I had to say, they are a lot tastier than they look. All of them are so sweet! It was like eating rock candy that increased my magic! I still haven't been allowed to practice any magic that would be used in a fight, though. Crystelien was being very careful to ensure that my magic had fully transformed the different parts of my body to be more dragon-like. Apparently, you could really hurt yourself otherwise.

* * *

"Dad, how does fishing have _anything_ to do with dragon slayer magic?" I asked. We'd been at a nearby lake all day, just lazily sitting by the edge. And we still haven't caught a single fish. Not one. I was all for relaxing; napping _was_ one of my favorite hobbies, after all. But I couldn't relax when I had a task, and there was nothing I could do about it! Seriously! Not even a nibble!?

"The different types of dragon slayer magic also tend to vary in the style in which they are used. Our style will require much patience, and less movement than other dragons" Crystelien explained. I let that stew for a bit. So, every element varied? I guess that made sense. With different resources at their disposal, their solutions to a problem would be different than ours. Though, I had to wonder how a lack of movement would do anything thing to help me...

* * *

"Gah... Okay, I get the mental training... Gah! But... Huff... Puff... Why do I have to... Ha! Do physical training too!?" I complained. This had started after Dad had determined that my mindset would fit rather well with this style of magic. And when I found out that there actually weren't even any fish in that lake. I didn't speak to him for two days after I figured out about THAT little stunt...

"You cannot rely on magic for every situation, son. There will be times where brute force will be an asset. In fact, for dragon slayers, the two often coincide," he lectured. I simply sighed as I continued to climb up the mountain towards our cave. He had dropped me off at the bottom that morning, and said I wouldn't be able to go home unless I could climb there myself. It was fine when there were some trails at first. Then I hit the vertical climbs.

I tried to calm myself down as I kept climbing. Nothing good would come from being frustrated; I'd just annoy myself, and maybe hurt my Dad a little bit. I tried to look at the situation more analytically, looking for the best handholds to keep myself up with the least amount of effort. When I started treating the climb as a puzzle rather than an exercise, it became _much_ more doable. As I was focused on my new mindset, I didn't pay any mind to what Crystelien was muttering below me.

"Hmm... He actively resists using brute force as a tactic. Teaching him could be a little more difficult than I thought. I'm going to need a different approach..."

* * *

"Alright Yuji, today we are going to play a little game," Crystelien said. And he had the devious smirk. Crap. "The game is to see who can startle the most bats out of the cave!" Huh. So he was just disguising chores as a game. That was fine, I wasn't particularly fond of those flying rats. They always woke me up at night... "And the loser has to catch dinner for a week," he added, his grin returning. And there's the catch. There was no way I was gonna win... But there was no way I could catch enough food to feed the dragon for a day, let alone a week! "Ready, set, go!" the dragon roared as he bounded deeper into our cave. I sighed. This was going to be hell, but I at least had to try, right? I would probably hurt his feelings if I didn't...

I quickly figured out that this was going to be a lot harder for me than it was for Crystelien. For starters, he could actually _reach_ the bats on the ceiling. I had to find more creative ways of getting at them... I started off by chucking different rocks I found at them, but even with my rigorous physical training, I couldn't throw them high enough, gravity always taking hold just before it would reach them. I tried to see if I could climb the cave walls and somehow jump at them, but the cave was much smoother than the cliffside, so there weren't even any handholds for me.

 _ **RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!**_

The monstrous sound startled even me as Crystelien sent a swarm of bats my way, his voice alone driving them out of the cave. Wait... Voice... Bats were sensitive to sound, right? So maybe I could scare a bunch of them off like that? But I would need to find a huge group of them to catch up to Crystelien... I slowed my breathing, heightening my senses as I tried to track down the bats. As I continued to walk through the cave, I eventually found what looked like the motherload. A disturbing amount were hanging from the stalactites above me. There had to be at least 80 of the things up there! How had I never noticed these things before!? Whatever. Time to get to work. I took a deep breath, hoping this would work. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" I shouted. A whopping two bats at the edge of the group responded by simply flapping over to another stalactite. The others were completely undisturbed. Grr... "I said... GET OUTTA MY HOUSE!" I shouted, hurting my throat in my attempt to raise my volume. There was even less of a response this time. What the hell!?

 _ **RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!**_

The very ground shook below me, and I heard another group of bats flying away from the terrifying sound. You've got to be kidding me... I knew I didn't look as scary, but come on! What the hell was I doing wrong!? This should work just as well as Crystelien's technique! I could feel myself getting angry, but for once did nothing to stop it. I couldn't lose to Crystelien! Especially when he purposely stacked the odds in his favor! I clenched my fists before taking in a deep breath, then another, and another, trying to expand my lungs to get in more air.

 _ **RRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!**_

Another swarm of bats. Alright, that does it! I took in as much air as my lungs could handle, holding it all in me for a brief moment. I started feeling this weird energy building up in my lungs. It started rapidly moving upward, making me puff out my cheeks as a result. Eventually, the buildup was too much, and I had to release it somehow! I let loose all of that air and energy in one, huge roar.

 _ **ROAR!**_

The roar I unleashed wasn't just sound. There were loads of crystal shards traveling in a drill formation, right towards the bats! Suddenly, the roar stopped in midair, coming across some invisible barrier, the two seemingly at a stalemate until the roar broke through, shattering the barrier into thousands of little pieces. These shards... A crystal barrier? Made completely clear? A chorus of squeaks interrupted my thoughts, and I glanced upwards to see the giant swarm of bats finally reacting to my presence, fleeing the cave as fast as possible. Huh... So that crystal barrier must've been keeping my shouts from reaching them. Wait. _Crystal_ barrier?

...that dragon was a dead lizard walking.

I marched my way through the cave until I finally found Crystelien chasing a small group of bats out of the cave. When he finally got them out, he smiled in satisfaction, and turned around to see my unhappy glare. And the lizard had the nerve to smile even BIGGER. "So, it appears that you found out about my little ruse~" he said playfully. I kept up my glare. "I saw the swarm leave the cave earlier. And that means... you've finally unlocked your Crystal Dragon Roar. Congratulations, Yuji." The immensely proud look on his face had my glare falter for a bit, but I tried to put it back together as quick as possible.

"You cheated. You're catching dinner," I stated, not leaving it up for debate.

"Fair enough. Besides, there were more bats in that shell than the rest of the cave. You won fairly, despite my interference," he said, still maintaining that proud tone. I sighed as I couldn't keep up the glare any longer. "I apologize for being so underhanded about your training today, but your mind, while perfect for combat once you master the magic, isn't the best for learning the magic in the first place," he said. "Magic is a spawn of your resolve to complete your task. That's why there are so many tales in human culture of wizards gaining their power when they need it most, or winning a battle they should've lost due to their determination to win. And in the years that I've known you, I have learned that competition is one of the best ways to drive you towards a task. Your determination to prove yourself always forces the best out of you, whether it's schooling, physical training, and now, magic training."

"...I forgive you," I muttered. "On one condition!" I shouted, pointing right at him as he started to come in for a cuddle (dragons were a little awkward to hug, after all). "You take me flying with you every time you go hunting!" I declared. This set off a deep chuckle in the dragon.

"Deal. As long as you don't nearly soil yourself the next time I try a loop," he teased. My cheeks turned crimson as I shouted plenty of rude names at the dragon.

* * *

Training mostly consisted of games from that point on. They ranged from fun to unbearably frustrating, but they were always something that kept me on my toes, and usually ended up improving my magic as a result. A race up the mountain (no flying, of course) resulted in learning how to create talons on my feet to create my own footholds. A tree chopping contest unleashed my crystal claws, which cut through them like butter. We would occasionally go on scavenger hunts to make sure my senses wouldn't be dulling. Hide and seek in the cave forced me to be a little more creative, focusing my magic to create crystal walls throughout the cave that I could hide behind. Though that didn't do much against a dragon's sense of smell or hearing... But hunting contests eventually brought out my personal favorite ability; Crystal Dragon Scales. Crystelien constantly increased the difficulty of our quarry, going from boars and goats, up to bears and wolves, eventually building up to magical beasts such as vulcans and even a wyvern, that posing dragon wannabe. I would've died, if my magic hadn't kicked in and covered my body in purple, crystalline scales, making my appearance all too similar to my father. He chuckled for a while once he noticed the "family resemblance." After he fretted about how dangerous that was, at least. Good thing the local wyverns were pretty weak, unused to having any predators. And that Crystelien had been secretly supervising my hunt...

Once I unlocked my scales, the rest of my magic came much easier to me. The rest of the abilities I learned mostly consisted of focusing those crystals onto a specific body part, strengthening whatever attack I performed. Though, we quickly learned that I was far more proficient defensively than offensively, which Dad did expect.

"It's in our nature. We aren't meant to be fighters. We simply take whatever the world throws at us, and make it our own. That's what our magic specializes in; taking anything thrown at us, and using it to our advantage," he explained one day. When I eventually wanted to do resistance training, he was very hesitant. He was all for beating me in unfair competitions, but not quite as excited to give me an actual beating. Instead, we ended up doing more hunting, and he supervised me as we drastically decreased the mountains' wyvern population. Our cave looked even more sparkly when I started decorating with the scales.

* * *

"C'mon Dad! I know you can go faster than that!" I laughed, clutching onto one of his spines as we flew through the air. Flying was so much better when you KNEW it was happening. "What, is your old age finally getting to you? Let's do something crazy!" I taunted. The dragon huffed at that. I had started making cracks about his age on my tenth birthday last year when he joked that I was getting old now.

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you!" he shouted as he did a barrel roll, dropping me off of his back.

"WOOOOOOO!" I shouted as I started free falling, my cloak flying above me. I loved the rush of the wind around me! It felt incredible! I eventually rolled to look upwards and saw Crystelien giving me a fond smile. Though... something seemed wrong. Almost like he wanted to say something, but held himself back. He's been doing that a lot lately, whenever he thought I wasn't looking. "HEY! OLD MAN!" I shouted over the wind. "MIND GIVING ME A LIFT!?" He chuckled before diving down as I rolled into position to take hold of one of his spines again, once again riding on his back. "Hey, do you wanna do some fishing today?" I asked. Today was a very special day; a day off. Apparently it was in celebration of the day he asked me to live with him. I hadn't really been keeping track of time over the years, (I was barely keeping track of the fact that 7 years had gone by) but I knew that he was my guardian for basically my whole life. As dorky and overbearing as he could be sometimes, I had to love him for it.

"Did you forget why you wouldn't talk to me for 2 days?" he asked, a smile on his face. Right. No fish in the lake.

"It's still the best spot above ground to take a nap. No more wyverns in the area!" I proudly stated. Dad merely rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes. I swear, your magic's name should be changed to 'Wyvern Slayer.' Poor things never stood a chance," he said. We eventually landed near the lake as the sun began to set. We set aside most of the day for flying, and I asked if we could possibly go night flying, too. While the stars might not beat the cave, they did have their own appeal. And we were in the cave so often that a change of scenery every now and then was kind of nice. I took up my usual position near his belly, cuddling up to his arm as his wing came down over me. "You know, I think most children outgrow cuddling with their parents by your age, Yuji," he teased.

"Most kids don't have a giant dragon for a dad," I reasoned. He seemed to take that as a good enough reason as we simply relaxed in the fading sunlight.

"Almost time..." he mumbled quietly. Well, for a dragon, anyway. That peaked my interest.

"Almost time for what, Dad?" I asked. He seemed shocked that I actually heard him, and seemed to scramble for an answer. What was up with him lately?

"A-almost time for that late-night flight you asked for! The stars are coming out after all!" he rushed out. I gave him what I dubbed my "Really?" face, but let it slide. Today was supposed to be a fun day for the two of us. Whatever he was worried about could wait until tomorrow morning.

"It's fine, let's just rest here for a while. I'm... kinda sleepy... all of a sudden..." I mumbled as my eyelids began to droop. That was odd... I was relaxed, but I definitely wasn't this tired a few moments ago. I cuddled further into Crystelien's side, trying to soak up even more of his warmth. "G'night Dad... Love you." I heard what sounded like a shaky breath before he opened up his wing to nuzzle me with his head.

"I love you too, Yuji. And I always will..." he said quietly. I found it a little odd, but my mind was so tired that I didn't even bother processing what was wrong. Everything started fading to black around me as I faded from consciousness, but the last thing I could feel... Was something wet falling on my face.

* * *

"Mm... Ah, yikes, sleeping out here was a bad idea," I muttered as I sat up trying to pop my back. Sleeping on the ground was never as comfortable as sleeping in the cave. At least there it was usually dark, and the stones were smooth. Out here the sunrise would wake you and the land was completely uneven! I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, feeling that something was different. Wait... Where was my gigantic, scaly mattress?

I looked all around me but I didn't even see a sign that he was here. Which was extremely odd, since he wasn't exactly the most subtle creature out there. I tried using my dragon senses to track down a scent, or maybe the thud of his footsteps of the flaps of his wings, but... there was nothing. What was going on? "Alright, you big lizard... What's up with you today? Are we doing another round of hide 'n seek or something?" I asked myself as I wondered just where he could be. My first instinct was to go back to our cave. Maybe he just had another surprise or something. He did have that look like he wanted to tell me something, lately.

I climbed back up to the cave (a feat that I had to do every time now to keep myself in shape), and what I saw got me worried. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even the dragon's _scent_ had vanished. I dashed inside the cave to look for any signs of the dragon, but it was empty. I looked about frantically, my heartbeat growing faster and faster as I started to panic. No. Something was wrong. Something was VERY wrong. I dashed into what had been dubbed as my room. And that's when my world came crashing down.

The wyvern scales that I had decorated the room with were no more. All of them had been stripped from the walls and ceiling, the only sign of their original presence being a few shattered fragments on the floor. My school wall... Was ruined. There were large scratches over every assignment I had completed. I felt tears build up as I slid my hand along what was essentially my childhood with Crystelien. Entire chunks of the wall were taken out, large cracks spreading from the areas, with deep claw marks disfiguring anything that was left. When I looked up... The dam finally broke and the tears started to fall as I regarded what used to be the beautiful ceiling. The crystals were all dulled. Not even a single beam of light emanating from them. The lights where I had first met him. Crystelien once told me the secret behind those lights. He had imparted some of his own magic into them to give himself some light to help him see. And that those lights would be glowing... As long as he was around to keep the magic flowing... So... Did... Did that mean... Shivers rocked my body as a thought hit me.

"No... No, no no no no... Y-you wouldn't... You wouldn't do that Dad..." I muttered, gripping my arm tightly to try and force myself to quit shaking. The tears wouldn't stop. A cold, dark feeling hit me right in the gut as I was forced to face what happened.

He left me.

Once I thought those words, a choked sob escaped as I fell to my knees, clenching my eyes shut to try and somehow stop the tears. Why? Why would he- How could he!? I curled inwards on myself, wrapping my cloak around me as tight as possible. I continued letting out sobs, my throat tightening further and further until it felt like I couldn't breathe. Air... I needed air...

I shakily got to my feet, running away from my room, crashing into the walls every now and then on my unsteady legs. When I eventually made it outside I crashed down to my knees again but I still couldn't breathe. Every time I tried, I instantly sobbed. I curled up again, banging my fist against the ground. "Why... Why... Why Dad!? Wh-what did I-I *hic* do!?" I choked out, my voice already hoarse and shaking. "You sa-said that you *hic* you w-would *hic* prote-*hic*-ect me! *hic**hic* Dad! DAD!" I lost complete control of my voice, my sobs taking over until it was all I could do to keep myself breathing. My head hurt. My lungs hurt. My heart hurt. It actually physically started hurting from all of the stress I was going through. I finally understood the meaning of "heartbreak."

A familiar energy surrounded me as my sobs only grew louder and louder, until I was outright wailing. The ground shook beneath me, as if echoing my sobs. The air swirled around me, making me all the more aware of my tears. The energy grew more and more powerful. Behind my eyelids, I could see that some sort of glow was surrounding me as the very world seemed to shake, as if responding to my cries.

I eventually started to lose my energy. The wind died around me, and the ground stopped shaking. I simply kneeled there, curled in on myself as I finally ran out of tears, and my hiccups finally stopped and gave me the chance to breathe normally. I was so tired that I couldn't even care anymore. I decided to lie down, using my cloak as a blanket, not bothering to go back in the cave. I realized quickly how unused I was to sleeping alone.

July 7th, X777 would forever be regarded as the worst day of my life.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Alright, so everybody knew this scene was coming. It was a little odd for me to write, just because I never knew if it felt right to me or not. Go ahead and tell me if I did decently or not on the disappearing scene or not, because I'm honestly curious as to what everybody thinks.**

 **The idea for training being mostly games was originally just because Crystelien was too childish to train Yuji the regular way, but I wanted to take the opportunity to show off more of Yuji's character rather than his own. He IS the main character after all.  
Also, RIP Crystelien. I loved you so much, yet you only stayed around for almost 2 chapters... Well, hopefully Yuji will be just fine until he finds you. Yup. No evil plans from me or anything.  
**

 **Anyway, thanks so much for reading, peoples!**


	5. Chapter 5: My Quest to Yell at a Dragon

**Chapter 5: My Magical Quest to Yell at a Dragon**

I woke up feeling hollow. My eyes remained closed, and I refused to open them. I wanted to go back to sleep. At least there my emotions wouldn't bother me. And I could pretend that something was actually _right_ with the world right then. But did the sun get that message? No. It decided to shine its annoying light, hyperfocused right on my fa- why is that light focused? I slowly blinked my eyes open, raising my arm to shield my face from the intense rays of light surrounding me.

I found myself surrounded by a circle of large crystal spires, that seemed to have sprouted from the ground. They were shaded a dark purple; darker than any crystals I had summoned before. They were nearly the shade of my cloak. I looked down to see smaller circles of crystals around me in rings, growing in size as they went outwards into the spires. Did... Did I do that? It seemed to be the only possibility. But... My magic had never been strong enough to create something like _that_ before. Sure, I made walls, but they were always flimsy and see-through. My head began to hurt again as the rest of my body seemed to wake up, and I realized that I had to face the world at some point. This time, by myself.

* * *

It's been a few weeks since Crystelien disappeared. I had waited in the cave for a week in vain, hoping that somehow, for some reason, he would return to me. That my life hadn't shattered into a million pieces overnight.

Once I realized that he likely wasn't coming back, I decided to go on a walk to clear my head. It was always my go to activity; when I was bored, excitable, angry, sad, I would walk. I hiked for what felt like a few minutes through the nearby forest only to suddenly see that the sun had begun to set; I had apparently walked for an entire day without rest. While I was setting up camp, a wyvern was dumb enough to think I would make for a quick snack. It looked like it hadn't heard of what I did to every other wyvern in this valley. Fortunately (for it) I wasn't feeling particularly into the fight, so I just scared it off. It was confusing to actually see an aggressive wyvern in these mountains. But the sight of it gave me an idea.

Crystelien had often mentioned that there were other dragons in the world. He often mentioned his friend, Grandeeney, and how she would relentlessly tease him for being so easily flustered. So... Did he leave to find another dragon for something? Something that I couldn't help him with? The "something" that he couldn't tell me before? If so... Why wouldn't he tell me? Or leave me a note, or- The telltale signs of another breakdown warned me to calm myself down.

This had been a recurring incident ever since that night. When I would think too much, I would break down in tears all over again, and I would accidentally perform that odd spell I had somehow picked up when my emotions peaked too high. I had decided to name it "Crystal Dragon Facade." The first meaning worked for how surprisingly pretty and solid the structure was. The second was just me still being bitter about Crystelien. One thing I learned about the "attack" was that it was incredibly draining. Every time I used it, I eventually wound up passing out. Though the emotional turmoil probably helped.

Once I finally calmed myself down, I forced myself to think more analytically. Crystelien always hated putting me in danger, and knew I was too curious for my own good. He probably just wanted to protect me. That didn't make it hurt any less, but it at least gave me an explanation. But that left me with a new question. What was he protecting me from? If it was that dangerous, then of course I was going to help him! Not to mention, that dragon was going to get a piece of my mind for leaving me without a word, that deceptive little piece of lizard shi- Calm down. Anger might trigger it as well.

* * *

And so I've been traveling ever since that night, in search of the Crystal Dragon. It's only been a few weeks, so I was relatively early on in my journey. But simply moving around was better than staying in that cave for the rest of my life, and I already felt a little better for it. I still had my moments, but nothing as extreme as before.

I was actually a little shocked when the trees around me suddenly stopped, and I was met with a dirt road. Right. People actually used those. I eventually shook my head to get myself to stop staring and actually walk the damn path. It felt a little weird not to have grass under my feet, and I eventually settled for walking right beside the road rather than directly on it. I had absolutely no clue where this road even led, but... It went somewhere. Probably with people. People that might've noticed if a giant, crystal-coated dragon flew above them at some point.

A few hours of hiking later, and I finally got some results. I reached the top of a hill, and in the valley below me stood what had to be the biggest town I had ever seen. Well, to be fair, Crystelien would avoid having me go to towns as often as possible. The only time he made me go was when I needed new clothes. But this town was so BIG compared to the village I always went to!

The new sparkle I had in my eye disappeared the second I saw the smoke. Several plumes were beginning to float above the city as the sounds of panicked screams hit my ears. Awesome. My first time in a big city, and it was gonna be in the middle of a big disaster. Would this even be worth my time to stop there? I mean, my magic wasn't exactly made for putting out fires. But then again, could I really turn away? If I did, I'd just torture myself for the next few years about what I could've done. Not to mention, if I went in there and managed to help, maybe they would treat me like a hero! A nice statue in my image in the center of town, surrounded by flowers... I could see it now! I quickly shook my head to snap myself out of my daydream. Right. Gotta focus on reality. People needed my help right then. Without a second thought, I sprinted towards the town.

* * *

My senses were practically blinded the second I stepped within the city limits. My nose couldn't tell anything apart, the smell of smoke having coated the entire village. It was starting to make my eyes water. The only thing that was still reliable was my hearing, though there was too much screaming to determine which plea needed the most help. Just what was going on here?

"Oi! Get a move on! Loot it before we lose it, the fire's spreading!" a voice shouted cheerfully, nearly laughing at the end of his sentence. I hid behind the corner of a house and saw a group of men in identical dark green robes, with different colors on their trims. The one that spoke stood out, being in a plain brown robe rather than the elegant green like the rest. All of them wore some sort of mask or hood, probably to hide who they were.

"What, you want _me_ to risk my life in there!? That building's gonna collapse any second now!" one of the lackeys complained. The first one that spoke (who seemed like the one in charge, since he was the only one wearing different clothes) seemed to give the grunt a menacing look from under his hood, shutting him up instantly.

"We have our orders. One of them is going to be found here. And it is going to be by _our_ hands. I'd rather not let it die before I got the chance to play with it!" the man cackled. The other robed figures seemed to be afraid of... whatever the heck this guy was. It looked like these guys were the ones that caused this fire. But why would they ever want to do that? Everybody's gonna get hurt and lose their homes! The leader grabbed the complaining grunt's robes by the front and pulled him down to his height. "Now, are you gonna go inside? Or is the fire gonna have to chase you there?" he said, trying to sound menacing but still having that cheerful tone in his voice. The grunt gulped, before saluting and sprinting into the building. The leader simply giggled as he saw the man's retreating form. "Good riddance~!" he cheered. I shivered involuntarily at that. This guy... How could he be so happy about burning a town to ashes like this!? I was about to stand up to him, but I quickly took a deep breath, and hid back behind the corner. I had no clue how strong these people were, but they were grown ups. There was no way I could win in a straight up fight against the 7 that were still there. But... Maybe I could take out the guy that just went inside... He was by himself, and I had dragon slayer magic to help me. Maybe that would be enough to level the playing field? Yeah... I just had to get them into a bunch of one-on-one fights, until I beat them all! Perfect!

Making sure that the crazy leader wasn't going to catch sight of me, I chucked a rock at a window down the street, all of the robed figures turning their heads at the noise. I managed to sneak to the other side of the street unnoticed, and climbed in through an open window.

I was lucky that the fire hadn't completely spread to this building yet, but it wasn't going to be much longer until it did, so I had to make this quick. I used my hearing to track the man by his footsteps, and slowly crept up behind him. He was treading lightly, as though scared that the building was somehow already damaged by the fire outside of it. I silently hoped the owner would forgive me if I roughed up their house a little bit. Then again, it was about to be burnt to a crisp anyway. I took a few deep breaths, focusing on building up my magic before focusing all of it into my clenched fist.

"Crystal Dragon Iron Fist!" I shouted, my crystal-coated fist bashing the man right in the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground without so much as a whimper. Well. That was a little anti-climactic. But I had to grin. I actually used magic in a situation where it could be helpful! Now... What to do with the unconscious body of a man over twice my size? I shrugged my shoulders and started to drag the man by his feet out towards the window where I came in, trying to find a hiding place for him. I cringed a little when his head hit each of the stairs on the way down. At least he was already knocked out. Hopefully his buddies would notice he was gone, go in one by one, rinse and repeat, and boom! A horde of KO'd bandits! Though when I got to the window, my plans were crushed when I saw that the fire had indeed been spreading towards this building, having set the building nextdoor ablaze. There was no way I could keep the guy there! He would get burned to a crisp, or worse! Crap... That left only one way out. The front door. Right into the heart of those bandits. Joy.

"Gah... This is what I get for trying to help..." I muttered to myself. I shifted the bandit's legs on my shoulders, and made my way to the front door, trying to be as quiet as possible. I heard more laughter from the leader, and I immediately tried to hide next to the doorway.

"He's sure taking his sweet time, isn't he?" the leader giggled. Another shiver went through my body at that. Man this guy was creeping me out! "Though, that's to be expected. He _did_ run into our target after all!" he cackled. What? What was that supposed to-

 _BOOM!_

And then everything went black.

* * *

Oh man, my head hurt. Why did the first thing that registered have to be pain? Not just my head... My whole body felt like it was hit with a battering ram. That was set on fire. And after that I landed in a pile of needles. In short: ouch.

The pain only increased when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. It was extremely light, but it still felt like my skin was on fire. "Gah!" I shouted, recoiling in pain. That was a huge mistake, since the rest of my body didn't seem to like moving either. Just what happened to me to get me in this state? Actually... What was going on? I just realized that I had absolutely no clue. The last thing that I remembered was getting ready to face those robed bandits in the village and then... nothing. I wasn't even sure where I was at the moment. Taking what felt like a risk, I tried opening my eyes a little. It took some effort, and only a little pain, but eventually I opened them wide enough to get a general idea of my location. I was in a room made of stone, but it definitely wasn't like my old cave. Too unnatural. This was a man-made room. There was a little light filtering in from a window or something behind me, but I didn't want to risk turning around and hurting myself further. Ahead of me, there was what appeared to be a stone hallway, with other rooms like mine lining the other wall. I could only assume that my side of the hall had many of these rooms, too. But the thing that threw me for a loop was the set of metal bars lining the space in front of me. "Huh?" I said, unsure of what was happening. Why would someone trap me like this? Did those bandits do this? What was the point? I tried to sit up and wake myself up a little more, only to get a forceful shove on my shoulder knocking me back to the ground. "AH!" I shouted in pain. I heard some more shuffling before me, and suddenly there was a group of hands all trying to lay me down on my back, all seeming to ignore my shouts of pain as well. Eventually they succeeded in their task, and I looked up at the group that had just moved me over.

The first thing that I noticed was that they were all kids, like myself. Which felt really... weird. I'd never even met a kid my own age before, even when I visited the village for clothes. And now suddenly I'm in a group of them? Even weirder was the second thing they all had in common. They all had these odd tattoos marking their bodies, all in the exact same places. They were marked with chains that made loops around their arms and legs, giving them the appearance of being bound, despite their movement. The chains even went up their neck and over their mouths, making them seem exceptionally creepy. Especially since they haven't talked yet. One of the kids was observing me with a serious glance, looking over my body, likely at whatever injuries were covering it. She had blonde hair in a bob cut, with cold looking gray eyes. She looked to be extremely pale, as though she had never seen the sun in her life. The black, raggedy dress she was wearing only made that more clear, as did the black chain markings. Another girl off to the side was giving me worried glances, constantly shifting around on her feet. Her green eyes looked close to tearing up, for some reason, as the other girl inspected me. Her eyes matched her long, green hair going down her back in a braid, nearly reaching the floor. Her skin was a little more tanned, though it could just be that it wasn't as white as the shirt and pants she wore made of white and beige rags. The blonde got up and walked over to some other spot in the room, a boy taking her place this time, giving me a nasty glare. He had short, brown hair in a crew cut, glaring at me with his blue eyes. To go along with the chains, he seemed to have several scars across his face to decorate himself. As I looked at them, his glare only seemed to intensify. Yeah... this kid didn't like me one bit. The green-haired girl shook his shoulder to get his attention, a gesture that reminded me of whoever had woken me up earlier. It was probably her. She slowly shook her head, and the boy got an annoyed look but didn't glare at me quite as much. Why wasn't anybody talking?

Soon, the blonde girl came back, a bowl in her hands with some weird, green paste in it. I had to immediately dampen my sense of smell because that stuff _reeked_. The girl dabbed some of the paste onto her fingers, and started spreading it across my arms. I was prepared to shout in pain, but the pain never came. In fact, I couldn't even feel her touch. It was as though my arm had suddenly fallen asleep. The girl gave a questioning gaze, as though asking if it was okay to continue. Seeming to get an answer from my confused look, she kept going, applying the paste to my arms and legs. Eventually they had to take off my shirt, putting paste on my chest and back. Man, that stuff is cool but weird. I couldn't really feel anything anymore, except for my face. After a little while, I finally decided to look at what they had done to me, and I felt like throwing up. My body was coated in the sickly green color of the paste, but it was what was underneath it that disgusted me. Every now and then a patch of skin would show, showing off these ugly red and pink markings and welts all over my arms and legs. Fortunately, it seemed that my back and chest were spared the marks, but they didn't hurt any less. The green only hid the color; the horrifying appearance of the marks still made me sick to my stomach. What. The. Hell. Happened.

"What... What happened to me? What's going on?" I asked, my throat sounding a little scratchy. I probably had those marks on my throat, too. The kids all seemed to recoil at the sound of my voice, all giving me these shocked looks. The blonde eventually shook it off, going back to applying the paste to my back, but the green-haired one moved closer, as though she was looking at some odd creature rather than another person. "Please, can you tell me where I am? I don't know what's happening," I pleaded. The girl got this sad look in her eyes, before retreating behind the boy, practically hiding behind him from my gaze. The blonde seemed to finish up, grabbing my shirt and putting it back on me, since I couldn't really feel my arms anymore. "Uh... Thanks? I think?" I said, confused. It was nice not to be hurting anymore, but it was a little scary not being able to move anything below my neck. The girl simply nodded her head, helping me lie down again. I took another look at my arm and shivered. I needed something to cover that up, or else it was seriously going to bug me until it healed. Wait... Shouldn't something be covering that up already? Something... WAIT!

"Where's my cloak!?" I shouted, looking around the room frantically. The shy girl recoiled from the sound, the boy and the other girl getting in defensive stances around me. "Guys, seriously, where is it!? I can't lose it! Please, give it back!" I shouted, almost in tears. I already lost Crystelien, I wasn't going to lose the one thing I had left of him! The blonde slowly shifted out of her defensive stance, giving me a sad look before shaking her head. "What the heck does that mean!? What happened to my cloak!?" I questioned. The boy started stomping towards me, but the blonde held out her arm, stopping him in his tracks. The boy glared at her before backing off to lean against one of the walls, still shooting me dirty looks. I had had just about enough of this crap. "Why won't any of you answer me!? Just spit it out already! What is going on!?" I shouted, demanding an answer. The blonde slowly walked up, kneeling down beside my inactive body. She simply pointed to her mouth, and shook her head no, then pointed again at the chains that covered her mouth. Slowly but surely, my mind picked up on what she was trying to say. "You can't talk?" I asked in a quiet voice. She nodded slowly. "Because of those markings?" I asked. Another nod. "But they're just marks. They shouldn't be able to do something like that," I reasoned. At "just marks" the boy seemed to lose it, stomping over towards me despite the blonde holding her hand out and the shy girl trying to hold him back. He picked me up by the collar of my shirt, looking ready to lay into me. That is, until the blonde roundhouse kicked him right in the face, knocking him flat on his back. I fell back to the ground as he let me go, the shy girl rushing over to make my position into something that wouldn't wreck my back. Meanwhile, the blonde stood over the boy, glaring at him as he held his nose in pain. Well that escalated quickly. I guess that was why he had backed off before whenever the blonde so much as looked at him funny. The shy girl gave me an apologetic look before going over and helping the boy up, who immediately brushed off her hands and stomped off to sulk on the other side of the room. Brat.

The blonde walked over, and I tried to think of any yes or no questions I could ask her. Something manageable without speech. "Alright... Have I been here for long?" I asked. She shook her head. Okay, so I didn't have to worry about losing too much time in my search. Now if only I could figure out where I was. "Am I still in Fiore?" I asked. The girl looked confused at my question, as though she had no clue what I was asking. She glanced over to the shy one, who gave her a short nod, which the blonde directed back at me. Weird. But I had other questions that needed answering. "Is this numb feeling going to wear off soon?" I asked. I really hated not being in control of my limbs. I was fine with not moving, but the lack of control was killing me. Luckily, the girl nodded her head. So at least it wouldn't be a long wait. "Is my cloak... really gone?" I asked cautiously. The boy seemed prepared to jump in, as the girl seemed to think to herself. And then she shrugged. She freaking shrugged. "What do you mean you don't know!?" I shouted, the boy almost stomping in, already forgetting the beating he just got. The shy one immediately went to hold him back. The blonde gave me an even stare, then pointed at the rags that all of them were wearing, which I just now realized included myself. My own rags were different shades of gray with obvious patchwork across the entire thing. She shrugged again. "So you don't know what happened to _any_ of our stuff," I reasoned. That earned me another nod. "Sorry... That cloak is just really important to me," I said, avoiding her look. It was surprising how haunting her gaze was. Maybe it was to make up for the lack of words. It took a while for me to process that before thinking of a question that I should've asked from the beginning, based on the bars. I looked sadly at the other kids, and the various states they were in. The scars were plain as day on the boy. The shy girl always seemed to hide whenever I raised my voice. And the blonde looked as though she hadn't slept a day in her whole life. "We're all prisoners. Aren't we?" I asked, a defeated tone in my voice. At that, all three of them nodded.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yuji just can't catch a break. He went from one backstory right into another! Alright, so while Yuji is a dragon slayer, I still feel like he should have an arc like most of the guild members. I mean, Wendy had her own arc just by showing up, so I feel it's fair. So, the next few chapters are mostly setting up that arc before Yuji eventually finds his way to Fairy Tail. And yes, for anybody concerned about the pacing, he will get there. Life just tends to get in the way sometimes. In the form of a madman pyromaniac/cult member that loves to laugh. Something that we've all had to deal with, I'm sure.**

 **Oh, thanks so much for the follows/favorites guys! It's cool to know that you're interested in this story already! I hope you keep reading, because I have some pretty cool stuff planned for the main plot once Yuji shows up! Thanks everyone for reading! And if you read this far, you are cooler than cool. Like, ice cool.**


	6. Chapter 6: A Child's Guide to Prison

**Chapter 6: A Child's Guide to Prison**

I quickly learned that being the only one able to speak was more of a burden than I thought it would be. The others seemed to be able to communicate just with short glances or gestures. Me? I had to play charades and twenty questions with them until I could finally get some freaking answers. It felt like it took an entire week just to learn the group's names. I had to systematically go through the alphabet to figure them all out. The blonde girl was known as Ash. I insisted that that _had_ to be short for something, but all three of them just told me that Ash was her name, nothing more. She seemed to be the leader; hopefully not just because she was able to kick everybody's butt. She was definitely scary enough to be the leader. The shy girl with the long, green hair was known as Vera. She became a little less shy the longer I was in there with them, but she definitely didn't like it when I raised my voice. It didn't look like she liked me talking at all, actually. And then, there was the brat. Malik. I refused to call him anything other than Brat until he changed his attitude. That... wasn't received too well, but neither was the latest kick to the face he got. I haven't been on the receiving end of Ash's kicks yet, and I was hoping to keep it that way. Maybe that's a sign she likes me? Either that, or she's just going easy on the new guy. I was still recovering from those burns, after all.

The first week there could be summed up with one word: frustrating. I was locked up in a room with three kids who couldn't speak, all while barely being able to move. The healing paste eventually wore off the first day, but it still hurt to move my body afterwards. I definitely wasn't up for an escape attempt just yet. The only time anything ever changed was when one of those robed creeps walked by to give us some rations. They supervised us as we ate, and checked us afterwards to see if we actually ate it all, and didn't take anything suspicious from the meal, like the silverware. Making sure we didn't nab any tools made sense, but the food thing? I guess they wanted their prisoners in good shape, for some reason. Or at least alive. Though part of me doubted that, looking at the scars decorating Brat's face. The creepiest part was the way that the robed guys would stare at us as we ate. They didn't move. I wasn't even sure if they blinked. They just kept staring. Vera seemed to agree with me on that one, since she was clutching onto Brat's sleeve whenever they showed up.

* * *

 _One week later..._

"32... 33... 34..." I counted out quietly, hoping not to attract the robed creeps. Sweat continued forming on my brow as I was doing my daily exercise; handstand push-ups, with various stretches in between each rep. I still wasn't entirely back on my game yet, despite the amount of rest I got, and that was starting to scare me a bit. It wasn't even that it hurt to move anymore, I just... lost all of my energy, somehow. It felt like I had just used my Crystal Dragon Facade spell, but constantly. It had to be this place. I needed to get out of here, where everything was back to normal. So, I resolved to start training myself back to fighting shape. If only it was as easy as it sounded... Crystelien did say that training needed to become second nature to be effective; slack off even a little, and you could wind up back at square one. I was pretty sure I had landed all the way back at square negative five.

When I got back to stretching, Vera decided to come and join me, giving me a happy smile when she did. When I first started exercising, the group thought it was odd. I think. All I know is that Brat was annoyed, but what else is new. Vera liked stretching, but was disappointed when she couldn't do the handstands. Ash... I never knew what to think with her. She always looked like she was silently judging me, for some reason.

But it wasn't like I had anything else to do. Two weeks. TWO. FREAKING. WEEKS. And nobody has talked to me, let me out of this cell, or come to punish us or anything! Well, I'm happy about the last one, but seriously? Nothing? The silent treatment was creeping me out! I was pretty sure that a captor would like to investigate their new prize, or lay down the rules, or something like that. But if they were just going to leave me alone, then there was no point in staying. Besides, I needed to get my cloak back and work on finding Crystelien. Oh, he was going to hear a _lot_ about what I had to go through to find him... A forceful shove to my shoulder let me know to stop training right then. Brat was extremely annoying, but he had his uses. He was almost always on lookout for guards. And it probably wasn't a good idea to show the guards that I was starting to plan my escape. Maybe sometime I could ask him how he always knew where the guards were before they showed up?

Whenever the guards showed up, I took that as my cue to start meditating. It wouldn't look suspicious, and it could help me break out of here! According to Crystelien, it was the fastest way to build up your magic energy, since it brought in all of these weird little magic particles into your body. Though, it takes me longer to charge up than average, according to him. Apparently it has something to do with why it took me so long to learn magic in the first place, even before he taught me to roar. I still didn't entirely understand his explanation. Something about... my body not agreeing with magic itself or something? Whatever it meant, it made building up magic energy more difficult, but also made other magic around me dissipate a bit, lessening its strength. So at least if I fought a wizard that could level the playing field, somewhat. Though, the goal in whatever plan I formulated would be to avoid fighting these creeps, if I could. After all, they managed to beat me the first time...

As I started my breathing exercises, I could hear the footsteps outside start to fade away, and I started meditating in earnest, trying to focus on my magic. I could feel a familiar energy building up in my lungs. My skin nearly hardened, already itching to transform into full on scales. My lungs wanted to burst out a mighty roar. And my stomach gave me a _serious_ craving for some crystals. Oh, what I would give for a nice opal right about now... Hell, I'd settle for some quartz, if there was any. My senses heightened, trying to get as much information as possible from whatever was around me. Whenever I brought out my magic, the weird, tired feeling went away. But it was never too long until the next group of guards showed up, so I couldn't use that new energy to bust out. I needed to remember what Crystelien taught me; I needed to wait and watch, see the opponent's moves, and move accordingly. And never let them get to me in the meantime.

* * *

 _1 more week later..._

"Hmm... Try starting off smaller, Vera. It was easier for me doing it step by step at first!" I explained. Vera was now my official training partner. It looked like she really enjoyed exercising with me. I couldn't blame her. Anything was better than just sitting around doing nothing in this place. She seemed to think of it as some kind of fun game, because as soon as we started she would get this huge grin on her face. Especially when she proved just how much more flexible she was than me. Seriously, my legs still hurt from trying to match some of her stretches...

Anyway, right now I was trying to get her into a handstand, since she was still having trouble with it. I showed her how I learned, starting from a squat, rolling onto my head, getting my balance, going into a headstand, and pushing up. Simple stuff. The problem was, while Vera was flexible, she didn't exactly have the best sense of balance. Basically, she was a klutz. She couldn't even roll to her head without having some kind of accident and almost getting a concussion... But she was starting to get that dejected puppy look in her eyes, and nobody in the room could bear it when that happened.

"Okay, how about I help you keep your balance? Is that okay?" I asked. She nodded happily, and after basically holding her still the whole way, we eventually got her into a full on handstand. "Awesome Vera! Now, see if you can do a pushup while you're like this!" I challenged. With a determined look, her arms started to waver as she started to slowly lower herself down, her face turning more and more red as she went on. She started to make some progress on her way up... Until she gave up and we both crashed to the ground under her weight. Ugh... And cue Brat storming over in 3, 2, 1...

And sure enough, I opened my eyes to see the hostile expression of a pissed off Brat. For some reason he was _very_ protective of Vera, and really didn't like when she would hurt herself like that. Well, nobody would, but he always acted like it was my fault for some reason. What a Brat. Rolling my eyes, I pried Vera off of me before helping her up myself. "That's alright. Maybe we should work on regular pushups first, huh?" I asked, a little embarrassed. I completely forgot she didn't have the same training as me... Vera somehow looked even more excited than before, now having a goal to work towards, while Brat looked annoyed at the both of us.

While I was caught up in the moment, I didn't notice Ash in the background, smiling at the sight of the three of us. It had been a long time since she'd seen the other children so full of energy during their imprisonment. It was at that moment that she made a rather important decision.

* * *

 _A few days later..._

I. Was. Booooooooooored. And a bored Yuji is not something that should be taken lightly. That is when Yuji is at his most dangerous. Especially if said bored Yuji is referring to himself in the third person. The patrols were stepped up that day for some reason, so I would never have enough time to focus on my physical training, leaving me to meditate all day if I wanted to make any progress. And let me tell you something. Meditating gets old _really fast_. Even with the inclusion of magic energy, it's a feeling you get used to quickly. Meditating usually calms me down, but not when the reason for my anxiety is a lack of movement. Seriously... I needed to do something right then... Anything! Sighing, I flopped down on my back and stared at the ceiling for a while. Brat simply rolled his eyes and Vera gave me a pitying look, but didn't really offer any solution. I was starting to make constellations on the ceiling in my head when Ash popped into my vision, an amused smirk on her face.

"Please tell me you have something for me to do," I begged. To my complete and utter joy, she nodded, holding a hand out to help me up. I followed her over to the edge of the cell, where she showed me a little brown bowl that had a bunch of green stains on the inside of it. I took a whiff and- "Ugh! Oh man that reeks!" I shouted, immediately dulling my sense of smell. Yup. There was a reason I was putting off training my senses today. For some reason, the smell from the first day I was here came back in full, and holy shit it was the _worst_ thing I had ever smelled before. Ash silently giggled at my reaction before ushering me closer to her. Cautious, I kneeled down next to her, forming a wall in the corner so that any passing guards wouldn't see what we were up to. "Okay, so what's up?" I asked. She looked over at me before dabbing her fingers into the bowl, coating them in the healing paste from the first day, then spread it across her hands. After that, she took my hand in both of hers, and suddenly I felt... warm. It was small, and very weak, but there was definitely some kind of energy coming from Ash's hands. This energy... magic? Did the paste amplify magic? How did she even get this stuff? I looked up to ask her, and was shocked when I saw Ash's face sweating and bright red, as she struggled to release even that much energy. What the heck?

"Uh, Ash? It's okay, I got it. You have magic. You can stop now," I said quietly. Partly because of the guards, partly because of Brat, and mostly because this was kind of painful to watch. But she wasn't stopping. Instead, she kept going, and started to tremble a little bit as I felt the warmth focus on the back of my hand. It looked like she was really struggling... Was there anything I could do to help? Maybe... Maybe my own magic could help draw out hers somehow? It was probably my body not agreeing with her magic that was making it so tough on her, so maybe I could fix it? Focusing, I put myself into a meditative state, trying to draw in the magic particles around me. Breath in... Breathe out... Breathe in... Breathe out... As I continued to breathe deeply, I noticed the warmth on my hand growing stronger and stronger, and Ash's hands started to tremble less and less, until she eventually took them away and I opened my eyes. Ash's face was still flushed from her efforts, but she had a tired smile on her face, as though she was really happy about something. Maybe it was because she finally had someone else here that knew magic too? I had to admit, it was nice to know that much, even if she seemed to struggle with it.

Suddenly, she grasped my hand again, and lifted it up to show me what she had done. Now, on what used to be my plain old hand, there was a single, golden wing printed onto the back of it. It was almost like a tattoo. Thankfully a prettier one than everybody's chains. It looked really cool, actually! Almost like an angel wing! But all of a sudden, it started to disappear from my hand. "H-huh? What? Where did it go?" I asked, trying to see if I could bring it back. I tried focusing on my magic again, but I couldn't bring it back out. Oh no... Did my body not like Ash's magic? Did it get rid of her hard work? What if she was sad that it was already gone like that? I looked at the floor, a little dejected, but suddenly a hand came down to ruffle my hair, and I looked up to see a beaming Ash, letting loose a stream of those silent giggles of hers. Suddenly, I couldn't help but smile too. Something told me that when this girl could talk, everyone probably had a hard time getting her to stop laughing.

* * *

 _Another week later..._

"Ugh... Surprise Slop again? Something different would be nice..." I complained, looking at the gray mush that was my meal. I've learned to quit looking forward to mealtimes. I was always so groggy afterwards. Maybe they put a sleeping spell on it or something? That would explain why it was so hard to focus in here. But then I should fall asleep after eating it, so that didn't make sense... What if it was some kind of magic canceller? Like some kind of opposing particles to mess with the magic particles in the air? Or maybe it _was_ sleeping magic, but it was really weak? Or what if-

A nudge to my shoulder let me know that I should start eating before the guard forced me to. Brat again. He was really weird. Some days he'd act like he wished I never existed, others he would watch out for me, letting me know when guards were coming or would point out that I was doing something wrong in my training and show the right way to do it. I couldn't really figure him out. Vera was like a sweet little sister, and Ash was like a mom to everyone here. So that would make Brat... Like a brother, I guess? Actually... That made some sense, didn't it? Brothers were supposed to get at each other's throats, but they still cared about each other. At least, that was what they acted like in all of the stories I read. He did actually look out for everyone. Even me. Hm. Maybe calling him Brat was a little unfair... But he still earned the title. Meh, I'll compromise. We'll see how he acts after _one_ name drop.

"Thanks, Malik," I said, continuing to eat my slop. I looked and almost choked on my food when I saw just how surprised he was when I used his name, but he quickly regained his usual annoyed expression. Aw, somebody cares what I think! Oh, I could have fun with this... Get ready for a world of hurt! Or embarrassment, at least.

* * *

 _Yet another week later..._

Today was... weird. Everybody seemed to be really stressed out. Vera was hiding in the corner of the cell, and she absolutely refused to budge. Ash was on edge, and her eyes were darting between the two sides of the hallway. She'd occasionally glance at me, but would look away immediately with a guilty expression, like she stole from the cookie jar. Malik was brooding and- wait, no, that's the same. But that's not exactly a sign that anything's getting better. I've tried asking a few times what was going on, but I guess they weren't exactly feeling cooperative today. Or they finally got tired of charades.

Suddenly, a chorus of footsteps could be heard coming from down the hall. Weird. Guards only usually went in groups of two or three. This sounded like- one, two, three... At least 14 sets of footsteps. Most likely more. Yeah, something bad was going down today. "You guys, I could probably handle whatever's happening today better if you would let me know what's going on," I said, trying one last time to get some kind of info. The suspense was starting to kill me. Torture, labor, interrogations, a purge; at least let me know what's happening so I could stop making worse and worse scenarios in my head! But no. They just gave me various looks of pity or annoyance (guess who shot _that_ look). I just sighed and sat back on the ground, starting to meditate. I didn't have to know what was going on to know I might need my magic for it. And from the looks of it, this situation was going to be pretty grim.

I tried to drown out the cacophony of boots stomping on the ground, and gather as much magic as possible, but I didn't have long before the unwelcome creak of our cell door opening got me to open my eyes. These looked like the standard hooded grunts that had been giving us food, except they went on a shopping trip at an armory. While they still wore their robes, you could plainly see the metal gauntlets, boots, and what was likely a metal breastplate peeking out from them. They were prepared for a fight. Was now the right moment to strike? Would there be fewer guards in the hallway, or wherever they were going to take us? Crystelien always emphasized the importance of knowing precisely when to strike, but it was almost impossible to learn when that moment was! Suddenly, a guard walked in and had his hands on Vera. She slumped over, a defeated look in her face. It wasn't the terror she displayed whenever I shouted. This was different. She... She accepted whatever was happening next. And Malik looked sad, not angry. That wasn't right. Vera was in trouble, and he wasn't pissed? Three more guards walked in, two holding Ash and Malik in case they tried to flee. As the third walked towards me, I realized I didn't really have a choice. I had to wait it out, and see what happened.

This was gonna suck.

* * *

I grew more and more restless the longer they had us standing in line. The grunts had moved us into another stone room on the same floor with about a dozen other children, all with the same chain tattoos as my friends. That wasn't creepy at all. Nope.

The room itself was huge, the ceiling well over twenty feet up. The walls were covered in glowing yellow lacrima, giving the dark room a little lighting. There were guards posted at every exit, and spaced throughout the line of children standing next to the wall, facing the evil looking circle in the center of the room. My best guess would be that it was a magic circle, based on the runes etched near the edges of it. But I had absolutely no idea what it was for. The runes looked weird... Not at all like any I was taught, at least. But, since all of the other kids were shaking in their non-existent boots, my guess was that it wasn't anything fun. The blank ink they were written in wasn't exactly giving me a warm and fuzzy feeling, either.

The room was suddenly bathed in light as a new figure entered. She was an adult, I could tell that much. And from the curves, red earrings, and black ponytail, I was guessing it was a lady. She was at least a good two and a half feet taller than me and my friends, with a rather muscular figure. She must've been proud of it, too, with her sleeveless, olive green top. Geez, from here it looked like her biceps were bigger than me... She even wore some gold bands on her arm to show off how big they were. And her legs seemed to match, with how bulging they were. Though, considering her figure, her choice to wear a skirt was odd. It was black, and only went down to her mid-thigh. Not to mention her sandals, and the gold bangles around her ankles. It just really did not match what she looked like at all, to me. When she got close enough for me to make out her face, I had to resist the urge to rub my eyes. Was this... Really a woman? Her face was extremely angular, and those terrifying red eyes... She might not even be human. She could be a monster, for all I know.

The monster lady came to a stop in front of our row, silently appraising the lot of us. Could this be... The warden? Or our captor? Whatever title that person wanted to hold, this might be them. She was definitely scary enough. A slight nudge to my side had me glancing to the left, seeing a very serious looking Ash. She gestured at me as subtly as she could with her chin, then pursed her lips. What was she... No talking. I could still talk, and I probably shouldn't. Got it. I nodded slightly, then looked forward again. Right. I had friends, here. There were still people that could look after me. I didn't have to be scared. Even with the giant warden monster lady from hell a few feet down the row.

And a few less feet. And a few less feet. Slowly, as she inspected each child, she progressed down the row towards me. The room was starting to smell gross, with the amount of nervous sweat from each child. Understandable, but still gross. At each child, the monster lady would simply give them an appraising look, hold up her hand, then lower it and move on. I wasn't sure what she was doing... But it had to be something magical in nature, given the circle behind her. But what was it?

A shadow looming over me snapped me out of my thoughts. The monster lady was standing right in front of me. She took one look at me, and her eyebrows furrowed, a steely expression entering those blood red eyes. It was the lack of chains, wasn't it? The fact that I didn't have the tattoos the rest of the kids did. Did these people do that? What am I saying, of course they did!

I could feel myself starting to shake as the woman lifted her large hand, holding it directly in front of me. A sense of dread began to make itself known as I stared down her hand, and I could feel Ash, Vera, and Malik all go deathly still beside me as the hand started to glow a very bright green. Green was supposed to mean something healthy, or lively, or natural. So why did I get the sense that this green signaled my imminent doom?

"A magic user," the woman's surprisingly light voice echoed out into the silent chamber. "And a powerful one, too, for such a young age. How unfortunate." Suddenly, her hand jolted out, clamping down on my shoulder so hard, it felt like one wrong move would shatter it! I wanted to cry out in pain, but... But Ash told me not to speak. She was my friend. I trusted her. So I managed to reel in the pained shout before it could make itself known. The woman kneeled down to be just below eye level with me. I deigned to keep looking straight ahead. "Child, do you know why you are here?" she asked. Silence, Yuji. Deep breaths. Deep... breaths... Deep breaths?

Could that work?

The pain in my shoulder doubled in my silence. I had to clench my jaw as tight as I could to keep myself quiet. "You are here for the crime you have unwittingly committed," she said. What the hell was she talking about? I was caught after trying to save a village! That you all were pillaging! How was I the criminal, here!? "You may be wondering just what you did. Who you wronged. If there was some way to prevent this. And it is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you, no. You could not have prevented this crime." Deep breaths... Deeper... Take in as much as you can... Take in everything in this room, if you can manage it... You might need it... "The crime you committed, young one, was that of theft. You stole the life of another to exist in this world." What the... What the hell was this lady talking about!? "That body you're walking around in? That isn't yours, child. You stole it from its true owner. And now their soul is stranded, unable to return to Earthland while their vessel is occupied. Now, I understand that you are young. You may not know everything about how the world works, yet. But you do understand that when somebody does something wrong, they need to be punished for it, correct?" she asked with a sickly sweet voice. The same that adults use to talk down to children they believe to be ignorant. She thinks _I'm_ ignorant, after spouting on about punishing people for something they have no control over!? I don't know what this crap about souls is, but I never asked to be born! And sorry for being selfish, but I want to keep living!

I finally looked down into the monster's eyes, to see a pitying expression. Almost motherly. Almost. If it wasn't for the emptiness in her eyes, I'd believe her to be genuine. She has no regrets for whatever she has planned for me. Suddenly her eyes flashed, and I was thrown behind her, and was sent rolling on the stone floor. I had a brief second to be thankful that my wounds from my capture had healed before I was lifted up by the collar of my rag shirt. "When I ask a question, I expect an answer, child!" she shouted at me. I slowly took in another deep breath, seeing the faces of my friends behind the monster. Vera was sobbing her silent tears. Malik looked genuinely scared. Ash kept her eyes on the floor, unable to watch. Though her clenched fists told me it must've been hard to just stand there. "I suppose you don't understand, do you? Then you will have to learn your lesson with a more... hands-on approach." The woman brought her hand to her waist, flipping open some kind of black leather pouch. And when she pulled her hand away from it she was holding... a key?

Suddenly, the monster threw me back even further, but this time I was prepared. When I was sent rolling, I rolled to my feet, then set myself into a sturdy stance, feet spread far apart as I skidded a few feet. Deep breaths. Get as much ethernano as you can. You _can't_ pass out when you use it this time. You don't have a choice. The monster seemed unamused at my determination to remain standing. "And I thought I had finally found one that understood... No complaints, no questions... But in the end, you're all the same. Selfish cowards that cling to your stolen moments," she sighed. I simply ground my feet further into the ground. I guess that's why Ash wanted me to keep quiet. To minimize the suffering for as long as I could. "It's a shame, really. If you were kind enough to allow the others a chance to live their lives, you wouldn't have to suffer. Instead, we have to chain you down like prisoners." At that, the monster lifted the key she held, pointing it towards me. It was a bright, gleaming silver piece of metal with a black chain snaking down from the teeth, all the way to the handle. "Open, gate of the Chained Lady! Andromeda!" she chanted, creating a bright yellow magic circle in front of her. She twisted the key, and brought it down, creating a beam of light so bright I had to cover my eyes. And when that light dissipated... I wasn't sure what I was looking at.

There stood another woman. She was as pale as a cloud, with sky blue eyes and midnight black hair flowing down her back. From what I could see, she had a dress about as white as her skin, but it was almost impossible to make out under the seemingly infinite amount of chains decorating her body. They roped around her torso, down most of her arms, looped around her neck, they dragged on the floor... I guess that's why the monster called her the "Chained Lady."

"Andromeda, we've got another rowdy one. Subdue him for me," the monster ordered. The pale woman simply nodded. "As you wish," she muttered. Suddenly, she somehow managed to flick an arm up, launching three separate chains at me! I was tempted to roar and counter them, but I needed to save my strength! Instead, I tried rolling out of the way. I was mid roll when I heard them clatter again. They were changing direction! I immediately pushed up at the ground as hard as I could, launching myself up and out of their path as they dug into the ground below. But the problem with dodging into the air was that it left you open. A fourth chain was launched at me with lightning speed, wrapping twice around my chest before slamming me into the ground. Once I landed, I heard the telltale clatter of more chains, and suddenly I was wrapped from the neck down in the chained lady's infinite chains, all reaching back towards her still covered arms.

"Target subdued," she muttered. The monster patted the pale one on the head before she started walking towards me. It was then when my terror finally began to dawn on me. This woman was talking like she was going to torture me. If not execute me. I... I didn't want to die. I missed my mom, but I wasn't ready to see her yet. I still had to find Crystellien. I wanted to spend some more time with my new friends. _Outside_ of these stupid walls. Maybe they could meet him. I glanced over at the line of children. Some were teary eyed. Most were scared. Some resigned. But... That was odd. I didn't spot a flash of gold hair. Green and brown, but... Where was Ash?

I got my answer in a sudden shower of golden lights launching themselves at the chains binding me. Not one to question good luck, I immediately threw off my chains and backed away from the approaching woman only to flinch as a pair of hands landed on my shoulders. I turned my head to see none other than Ash. And she had definitely seen better days. Her face was red, and she was sweating buckets. But, her tattoos... There were cracks all over the black chains, showing the pale skin beneath. I glanced around us to see the various robed goons brandishing staves, all aiming either at the line of children, or towards me and Ash. "Hm... So, one of you has managed to break through the chains? I'd be impressed, if this weren't another act of selfishness. Preserving another simply because you've grown fond of them... You children clearly have no knowledge of right or wrong. I suppose she could use a reminder as well," the woman lectured. She swiped her key, dismissing the chained lady in a flash of white light. I put an arm in front of Ash, hoping I could somehow protect her from whatever the monster would do next. Maybe... Could I fit two people? The inner ring was pretty narrow...

The monster raised both of her hands towards the ceiling, creating three different black magic circles above her. As she did so, several of the robed men followed suit, creating one circle each, until they all coalesced into one giant circle that formed over myself and Ash. Suddenly, the ground below us started to glow as well, as the magic circle began to activate. There was no way I could get out of whatever attack this was in time with Ash... And... The thought of Ash having to deal with more pain... Of my friend being tortured, isolated, _killed_... A rush of rage and terror flooded my entire being. I clenched my teeth as I felt my fangs sharpen to fine points. My scales immediately took over my entire being, my tan skin now covered in reflective purple scales. Every sound, color, and scent became sharper. My magic power was overflowing so strongly, my body had to channel it wherever it could. I mustered the deadliest glare I could, and leveled it at the monster. "Just try and hurt my friend. See what happens," I growled. The monster shot back a glare of her own. She then lowered her hands to point them straight at me and Ash, the rest of her entourage following suit.

"Nyxing Chains!" she shouted, clapping her hands together. The room seemed to go still for a second. No noise. No movement. As if everything had frozen. Then, dozens of magic circles spawned in the space between the giant circles above and below me and Ash, surrounding us. There was no way out. But that didn't matter. I couldn't call myself a Crystal Dragon Slayer if my defenses fell to one stupid spell. I looked over at Ash to see a look of defeat... Something that I never associated with the brave leader of our cell. She never stopped caring for us, never stopped to care for herself. It was time for me to return the favor. I brought Ash into my arms, hugging her as close to me as possible. She looked at me, utterly confused, and I gave a determined look in response. If she was willing to put everything she was on the line to save me, then I'd do the same for her.

"Don't let go," I told her. The circles began glowing brighter around us as the magic energy began to physically affect the air, creating a tempest around us. However, my own was rising to the challenge, a small storm beginning to form between the opposing forces. I took one last, deep breath, trying to absorb as many magic particles as I could in one, last ditch attempt. I heard the telltale whine of the circles about to unleash their power, and released my own.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Crystal Dragon Facade!" I shouted. Suddenly, the circle began launching a series of chains made of black energy at me and Ash as my crystals rose to meet them head on. Row after row of dark purple crystals rose from the ground to form my strongest defense around us, the chains doing their best to chip away at them. The crystals began to turn black themselves as they absorbed more and more of the black energy launched at them. I could feel myself grow weaker by the second as I tried my hardest to maintain the spell. Every hit the barrier took felt like a physical blow to whatever remained of my magic supply. I've never had to actually use this spell in combat, before. Plus, I always just passed out halfway through casting it. How was I supposed to know it'd be this draining? I fell to a knee, Ash leaning on my shoulder as I struggled. I started to see stars, and it felt like everything was rocking and waving... But that onslaught of chains was still going. I couldn't give up!

I couldn't...

Give...

Up...

There was a high pitched whine. Then a deafening boom. And then everything went white.

* * *

 **Author's Note: *Lightning strikes in the background as I lower the table with the story on it* It's... ALIVE!**

 **So, yeah. Been a while. But, hey, I'm back! And I hopefully won't have as huge of a hiatus this time!**

 **Anyway, about this chapter. I'm a little reluctant to put in so much dark stuff so early (hence the amount of fluff/getting-to-know-you bits beforehand) however, it is necessary to set up some major plot points in this story. Especially one in particular... Why must author's make their characters suffer?  
Andromeda was a spirit that I knew I wanted to include from the start, so we'll be seeing more of her eventually, as well as what she can actually do in battle. As for the monster lady? *Shudders* As I wrote her design, I realized I was kind of modeling her after Bisky from Hunter X Hunter, lol. But, muscular women don't get much play in fiction, so there ya go!**

 **Hope you all that enjoyed the story before enjoyed this chapter! And hey to any newcomers! I'd say it's maybe two more chapters until Yuji reaches Fairy Tail, so just be patient! Because I'm pretty sure chapters will be posted much faster when I have existing characters to work with! (Plus most of the planning for the story was for Yuji's interactions with everyone, so that'll help immensely.)**

 **Once again, thanks for reading! Hope you all have a lovely [ insert applicable time of day here ]!**


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